The Kids Are Okay

TED Talk presenter Rashed Al Raeesi talks about living life his own way while satisfying his thirst for life

Rashed Al Raeesi, 28, embodies everything that is right with his generation, starting with his desire to study abroad for his degrees. He went to Liverpool, conveniently the town of his favourite football team, where he did his bachelor’s in criminology, communication and media.

“I like to think out of the box and criminology is not only about crimes, but it also addresses equality, gender equality, and sociology. It addresses how people live in this world living in this world, not only blood, or crime, or only the negative,” he said.

Al Raeesi said that it seems that some women think that men should remain stoic. “In our culture, many people say ‘You’re a man, you’re strong. You should not cry; you should not show your emotions. You should not complain to a woman – to your mom, wife, girlf riend, or sister. They should come to you. But I think men can express their emotions. They’re allowed to and this is the first stereotype that we need to break. When I feel bad or sad, I don’t go to my father. I go to my mum.”

Al Raeesi considered his love for people when he signed up for his master’s degree where he studied diplomacy and security. “I’m a people person. I like, after people I like to learn about different cultures, so diplomacy felt like the right thing to do, not only in terms of being a diplomat and being deployed to different countries but because we need diplomacy in everything in life. I want to have a general knowledge of what’s happening in the world.”

This mindset served him well when he returned from the UAE to do his national service, a life that was totally different to anything he has done before or since. “Your military service turns you into a new person. One minute I was a guy enjoying life in the UK and the next there was someone in the military controlling you. But you only realise once you’re out how it was for your own good – it builds character and personality, which will help you to lead in the future as well. You learn just how much you can handle. The big thing is punctuality. I thought I was pretty punctual in the UK because the Brits are quite punctual, but the military was next level. I would do it all again, though. This country has given me everything, what’s one year and four months for national service? It’s nothing.”

FUTURE GOALS
Al Raeesi honestly thought after his master’s and national service he’d kick back for a bit and take some time off, do a couple of courses or possibly publish a book, but he couldn’t. He’d built up momentum between working and studying and hitting the brakes simply wasn’t an option. With each of his endeavours Al Raeesi knows the only competition he has is with himself. The only person he compares himself to is the person he was a day, a week, a month, a year ago and he focusses on the goals he has ahead of him.

“My plan is to continue to work hard to develop my personality and character and to continue to serve my country. I want to serve and help my country with initiatives and new ideas in terms of developing the youth. I have my goals, but after every goal, I have a new one. I just keep going, even if I fail because then I aways learn something,” he said.

One of his initiatives is to resume volunteer work and humanitarian initiatives which he has done in different parts of Africa but was put on hold because of COVID.

“The media didn’t show us the right image of Africa, to be honest. Africa is beautiful; Zanzibar has beaches that look like the Maldives. It’s amazing. The people have very little, but they are still
welcoming and very generous. I would love to visit again and continue the housing projects in Zanzibar,” he said.

This article appeared in Issue 002 – the Men’s Edition