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Hey Business of Ferrets, I have a couple of rather specific questions regarding becoming an FSO when it comes to my personal circumstances. I don't have a platinum account so I can't use PMs, but is there any way we could maybe facilitate some sort of e-mail based Q&A, if you have some time?
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Sep 22, 2009 09:44
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| # ¿ Apr 20, 2024 00:34 |
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Well, okay, I guess… At the risk of sounding like a total dope, here’s my situation. I’ve been considering Foreign Service for several years. I want to work in some sort of diplomacy job for the rest of my life. I want to travel, I want to learn 100 different languages, I want to be exposed to the same amount cultures, and I want to have an impact on the world in some way because of my work abroad. I have a particular interest in Africa. I am lucky because I’ve just been accepted to the Peace Corps and in October I’ll be leaving with the first batch of teachers to return to Rwanda since the genocide (yay field work!). It’s been a growing concern of mine that Foreign Service does not have a place for my interests. In simplest terms I’m not sure which track to choose because I’m not sure any of them serve my purpose. I don’t want to work in a consulate rejecting visas all day long; I want to prevent conflicts and resolve international disputes (e.g. stop wars). I want to be the person who sits in meetings with foreign ministers and convinces them not to let ships filled with weapons from China dock in their country. This is not to say that I’m not willing to work my way up, because I would totally work in a consulate and push papers all day long if it meant I could eventually do what I wanted. I’m in this to be the job. I don’t want kids, and even if I did I wouldn’t want to subject them to a constantly uprooted lifestyle. I don’t want to be posted in Stockholm or Paris. I want to go where I’m needed and help facilitate peaceful relationships between nations (like I always imagined a diplomat would). Some of the things I have been reading make the politics track sound a lot less active than I would enjoy, and the diplomacy track just doesn’t have that much information on it for me to make an educated decision. So you said you work in the politics division; do you feel as though your work has made much of an impact on the nations where you have been stationed or has your work been more personally fulfilling in nature? There really isn’t a wrong answer to this question either. I’m just trying to make the best decision for myself.
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Sep 23, 2009 03:01
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