JAMAICA's First Female Foreign Affairs Minister, Kamina Johnson Smith credits success with sound upbringing.... New foreign affairs minister wants to make the most of political opportunity

 BY KIMBERLEY HIBBERT Staff reporter hibbertk@jamaicaobserver.com  Sunday, March 13, 2016    
SHE’S a wife, daughter, mother, sister, disciplined, loving, multifaceted, athletic lawyer, dancer, and lover of music who is passionate about building a better Jamaica and the empowerment of women.
In addition, she’s known as Kams, Kamsi, Kamsimina, Kumina, Ms Kums, Ms Kumsimina and Johnno, and posses a very polite demeanour and a smile that can easily disarm you.
How I represent my country is important to me, says new foreign
 affairs minister
But, though petite and cordial, she’s no pushover and professionally has risen to become the first female Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, which she says is an honour and very humbling achievement.
Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, who has a bachelor’s degree in French and international relations, an LLB degree from the University of the West Indies (UWI), a degree in Commercial Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the first foreign minister to be born after Jamaica’s Independence in 1962, told the Jamaica Observer that her success is credited to the influence her greatest role models — her parents — had on her while growing up. “As an adult I can look back and see the Importance of a stable family unit, how it influences the stability of your children and their ability to fulfil their potential. Having parents who believed in their children made them confident and made them believe in their abilities, that made them ‘study dem book’, made them go to school — even when it’s not fun, but taught them discipline it is clear as day, I can look back and see how these things growing up has shaped my siblings and I,” she said.
Nothing beats discipline and hard work,
 says Johnson Smith
“My parents always made sure we were independent. For example, they sent us to swim classes and we could go alone while other parents maybe wanted to oversee their children. We had social lives while we were getting grades, but if not, don’t expect fun,” she reminisced.
Moreover, as it relates to her professional accolades, Johnson Smith, also a past student of Campion College, said she never once imagined going into government or law while growing up; rather, she had her sights set on being a diplomat, but after a heart-to-heart talk with her father, she decided to change her mind. more

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tessanne Chin's Husband, Michael Anthony Cuffe Jr Moves Out Of Marital Home

IN JAMAICA: MURDER-SUICIDE, Woman cop, 28-year-old Pagiet Davie among two killed in suspected murder-suicide...."She was a person who was determined; she loved life and she was goal-oriented"

MATH PUZZLE : Here's The Answer To That Fruit Math Puzzle That's Driving Everyone Coconuts.... What's half a coconut plus one apple plus three bananas? Is the answer 12, 14, 16, 18 or 20. Go to www.RulaBrownNetwork.com for the correct answer.