A World of Opportunities

Written by Dana Al Dairani

I work as an Associate Director at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University. I am Syrian; born and raised in Damascus. I started my career at age 19 as a second-grade teacher in an Armenian school and that job put me on the track for a 16-year career in educational development across Syria and the Arab World. 

When I first arrived in the United States in 2015 to pursue my MA in Arab Studies at Georgetown University, all I had on me was one suitcase, determination, and hope. I have hoped for new opportunities, for people who would believe in me and for a future where I can continue to impact lives through education and development. 

My education at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies was gifted to me by the Kuwait-America Foundation (KAF). I say it is a gift because what I received from KAF goes beyond financial assistance. The scholarship for its recipients is a statement that KAF believes in you, supports you and admits you, along with your dreams, into a world of opportunities. Since then, KAF and its team have become a family that celebrates my achievements, and believes in my ability to impact the lives of many others from the Arab World through the gift of education.  

I recall once attending one of KAF’s dinners for Do the Write Thing as part of the Foundation’s National Campaign to Stop Violence. I looked around the dinner venue and I saw a large number of teenagers and educators who had taken up the challenge of addressing critical problems related to violence in their communities. I recall thinking at that moment of KAF, and its unique model of offering tools and then encouraging you to take control of your present as well as your future. I realized the Foundation opens the door for a world of opportunities and celebrates you as your cross and move forward. 

Today, I am in a position where I support tens of scholars and practitioners every year as they prepare themselves to take on issues related to the history, economy, and politics of the Arab World. I have also enrolled in an Executive MBA program at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business. My mission has never been more clear to me and it drives me every day to get up and keep pushing forward. This has all been possible because of the support of a team that believes first and then delivers upon this belief every day!