Why I Want to be a Foreign Service Officer

Earlier today, I read of the death of a Foreign Service Officer who lost her life in a car bombing in Zabul Province, Afghanistan.  The press statement, issued by the State Department in which Secretary of State John Kerry revealed that four other State Department colleagues were critically injured along with Afghan civilians, service members, and a Department of Defense civilian, was released this morning suggesting that the terrible incident took place earlier today or yesterday.  Incidents like these are seemingly becoming more standard as Foreign Service Officers are required to serve at least one term in a hostile political state where going to work at an embassy in the midst of civil unrest and aggressive rioting become as normal as packing your book bag to head of to a new day of school.  Only this time, your school bus full of rambunctious children is substituted for several trained security personnel armed to the core with assault powered rifles and bullet proof vests.  And your school bus is in fact not a yellow magic school bus but an armored government car, blackened with tinted-bullet proof windows to protect you and the other Foreign Service Officers in order to carpool to work.  You would think this will deter me from the life as an FSO but it does not, in fact, it strengthens it.

            Though the statement did not reveal her name, her work, daily rituals, and belief in promoting diplomacy as a diplomatic officer epitomize for me why I want to become a Foreign Service Officer.  I will carry her fight for peace and justice to the four corners of the world.  You see for me, the fallen FSO symbolizes what I have always suspected in this life.  GOOD lost a soldier today in the war against evil but in my fight to become an FSO, gained another.  Living my life through the lenses of this simple reality has been this clear since I left my country of Nigeria as a young 7 year old boy.  I was born into an Igbo sect in Nigeria, which really does not have any particular significance to me other than what I began realizing the older I became, being Igbo means I am not Yoruba or Hausa, or Muslim or any of the 50+ ethnic enclaves in Nigeria.  Sure, I regale in the fact that I belong to a particularly rich ethnic group that celebrates unique dances, foods, music and history.  Nevertheless, to all other Nigerians who are not of the Igbo tribe, I am just another Igbo.  I believe the root of this ethnic cataloging in Nigeria, and other parts of the world is what influences the divide and biases that resulted in the Biafra war before I was born, and has arguably fueled many more conflicts such as in Syria and Gaza today.  Giving my life to support world leaders in realizing a future grounded in mutual understanding and collectively working towards building a fair and harmonious world for all countries, tribal groups, and identities is a key reason why I want to become an FSO.

           

            As the yin and yang collude with each other to create a formidable whole dependent on the other, I argue that the reason for existing is to formulate the same symbol for oneself with the teachings of life experiences.  For me, empathy and sympathy stand in place of the yin and yang.  I described earlier how I can empathize with sectarian conflict as the product of a unique ethnic identity but presently, as I read of human rights travesties that afflict many people in many nations, I can only sympathize.  One particular instance is the disturbing nature of government and Tibetan relations in China.  I refuse to stand idly by and dare to gasp at the religious and political persecution of a Tibetan people who are pushed to self-immolate at ages as young as 18 and 21, especially when I can work towards ending the tension.  I refuse to stand idly by and dare to gasp at the debilitating oppressive environment for women in Burma openly forced into trafficking because of the lack of security and accountability for its people, especially when I can work to defend them.  I refuse to stand idly by and dare to gasp at the sectarian conflicts that involve Sunni and Shiites in war torn Syria who have no association to the war but are affected by it because of their ethnicity, especially when I can attempt mediations to stem the conflict.  Maybe, just maybe, in another life I will be more excited for work as a businessman or engineer or computer technician, but as long as I breathe in this life, I am content with my ambitions.  I will save the world starting as a diplomat, or die trying.

                

Good will prevail because as one soldier falls, two more take the place of that fallen soldier.  Therefore, I can safely admit to the world what I have concluded oh so many years ago. 

I am ready to stand in for those who have given their life to peace, justice, and equality.

      
Update: The fallen FSO was named Anne Smedinghoff (rest peacefully, your good work is done)