US Ambassador to Kuwait Alina L Romanowski attends the event.

KUWAIT: The US Embassy in Kuwait marked International Education Week with an event on Wednesday at the creative arts studio Yadawi, located in Kuwait's historic Bayt Al-Othman Museum, to promote international education and exchanges between the United States and Kuwait. The gathering also coincided with Global Entrepreneurship Week, a week-long celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship.

US Ambassador to Kuwait Alina L Romanowski gave opening remarks at the event, which included nearly 50 Kuwaiti graduates - entrepreneurs, artists, and more - from various US universities in attendance. "As someone who did their graduate and undergraduate studies in history and international relations, I know that education and exchanges can play a transformational role in international relations because they help foster cultural understanding. At the end of the day, it's the people-to-people ties and networks that support strong relations between our countries," Ambassador Romanowski said.

A general view showing people in attendance.

"During my time as Ambassador in Kuwait I have met so many successful Kuwaiti men and women of all ages who graduated from US colleges and universities," the Ambassador added. "Kuwait has a long history of sending students to the US for their studies, going as far back as seven decades." Ambassador Romanowski highlighted the release of the 2020-21 report from the International Institute of Education, a global non-profit that creates and implements international education programs and conducts related research.

"The latest report from the International Institute of Education covering academic year 2020-2021 was just released, and although there was a drop in the number of international students going to the United States due to COVID-19, including from Kuwait, we still had around 7,000 Kuwaiti students in the US in the last academic year," she said. "As we find ways to live, work, and study during the pandemic, we have found ways to continue to safely bring international students to America."

To inspire more Kuwaiti students to study in the United States, Ambassador Romanowski also announced the continuation of an embassy grant, the Future Creatives Mentorship Program, to Shahad Bishara, founder of Kuwait-based art consultancy Visual Therapy. The program connects high school students in Kuwait with established creative professionals from different industries within the arts community in Kuwait. The program is part of wider efforts to empower and inspire young artists and nurture the creative community.

"Careers in the creative arts are not always as well-understood compared to others, but I believe that they are some of the most entrepreneurial in nature. The US Embassy is proud to partner with Visual Therapy to help fund this unique program," Ambassador Romanowski said. "By connecting students with successful artists from a variety of fields, all of them graduates from schools in the United States, we hope to inspire the next generation of Kuwaiti artists and entrepreneurs and provide them with mentorship opportunities to succeed both creatively as well as professionally and consider the United States as a destination for future studies," the US Ambassador added.