by Fadak Behbehani (GUST student)

Jasem Al-Budaiwi, ambassador of Kuwait to Belgium and Luxembourg, NATO, and the European Union, is one of the few people of his age to reach this level in their job at a young age. He is even more proud of what he has accomplished and how much he has helped people. “The love I have towards my job motivates me to get up every morning and do what I do”, he said.

Many people have a famous or well-known person as their role model but when Jasem Al-Budaiwi was asked who his role model is he said that it was his father. He said, “There are many interesting people and I have many role models, but my main role model is my father”. His father influenced him and pushed him to be his very best. Even though his father was a successful businessman in real estate and he is a diplomat, the fact that his father accomplished many things and made a name for himself from scratch inspired him. Al-Budaiwi said that the fact his father made a story for himself was inspiring and was something he wanted to achieve when he was younger, and fortunately he did create a story for himself and is still writing continuing writing his story.

August 2^nd, 1990 the day Iraq invaded Kuwait is a memorable day for many people for many reasons. That particular day is important to Jasem Al-Budaiwi since it was opened his eyes to what would be his future career.

In that year Al-Budaiwi was just a Junior in college in Utah. When Iraq invaded Kuwait, he and eight others, who are all diplomats now, realized that no one in Utah knew where Kuwait was and they were eager to raise awareness for it. They wanted people to know that what happened in Kuwait was unfair and unjust. The group of eight went around from TV stations to radio stations to newspapers to get interviews to tell people of Utah the story of Kuwait. With what they did they were able to achieve their goal and that was when Jasem Al-Budaiwi fell in love with diplomacy and decided to pursue a career in it.

Kuwait maybe the country that he is from and represents but it is also what motivates Jasem Al-Budaiwi to wake up every morning and do what he does. His love for country makes him love his job and he says he wouldn’t change it for the world. He works as hard as he does to make Kuwait and the people there to be the best version that they can. He works hard so that Kuwait can be a good place for his children and his grandchildren.

His accomplishments are all because of how proud he is of where he’s from and how much love he has towards his country. He will continue to work hard until Kuwait will be in its best status and continues in having the best achievements and creative solutions as it already does. Jasem Al-Budaiwi said, “Kuwait has always been different in its region so it should be different in every way”.