Three Years and Counting

When I started this blog just before joining the Foreign Service in 2010, I was eager to join the throngs of FSO and FS family bloggers chronicling their adventures around the globe. I wanted to create a platform to not only recount my own stories to family and friends, but to also highlight the challenges of FS life, especially for those navigating the system with Members of Household (MOHs) or traveling with pets. Well, as you can see, that clearly didn't happen. Work got busy, life got messy, and keeping this updated became less and less of a priority.

Fast forward a couple of years and I'm ready to give it another shot, this time from Belgium as I start my second tour. I thought about deleting my earlier posts, wiping the slate clean, and coming up with a new blog to kick off my new assignment. But I decided that would be unfair to the person I was writing those early entries, so anxious about moving abroad and leaving loved ones behind, yet so full of hope and enthusiasm for the opportunities and experiences to come. Those early posts serve as a reminder to me about how far I've come, both personally and professionally, and also about why I joined in the first place.

I think any officer will tell you there are plenty of moments in your career-even as a green FSO in a first or second tour-that make you second guess your decision to uproot your life to serve your country far away from home. However, rereading some of those entries I can almost feel the butterflies in my stomach while taking the oath, or the swell of pride on Flag Day when I learned I'd be doing human rights work in Lebanon.   It's moments like those that will help me get through the early days in my new city, as I teeter on the fine line between tourist and resident, impatiently expecting to have carved out a life in a place I've only called home for a week.

Such is the strange reality that is FS life. Moving every few years; adapting to new customs, cultures, and languages; being given opportunities and facing obstacles beyond compare. These are the thrills and adventures I was seeking when I joined, and they are still what gets my blood pumping today. What I wasn't prepared for, though, was how this job would make me throw my well-crafted life plan out the window. The clearly-scripted goals, objectives, and milestones my Type-A personality had carefully outlined quickly succumbed to the unofficial "it depends" mantra of our line of work. I have been pushed, tested, and challenged, and I am a better person for it.

When I started this blog three years ago, I could never have imagined the many things to come...that I would live through the Arab Spring, interview Syrian refugees fleeing a bloody civil war, or end a nearly five-year-long relationship. I never thought I would study French and pack my bags to spend a couple years in the heart of Europe. Sometimes life goes as planned and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you end up where you intend and sometimes you don't. And sometimes you realize that all the zigzagging life has made actually led you to the exact place you should be. I could never have imagined Brussels was in my future, but here it is and here I am. Ready to see what this crazy and amazing way of life has in store. 

Back to School

So tomorrow is the big day! This moment has been months in the making, and yet it seems like it just snuck up on me. I've spent the last week closing one chapter of my life, saying goodbyes to friends and colleagues, and spending several evenings celebrating the transition from one job to another. Somewhere in there I've managed to shop far too often, buy a few too many suits and pairs of dress shoes, and host a meet-and greet for a group of my A-100 colleagues. (The goverment is full of fun acronyms, which I will outline more thoroughly in a future post, but A-100 is the orientation program for Junior Foreign Service Officers.)

Growing up, I was always the kid who couldn't wait for the new school year to start. I looked forward to the back-to-school trip to Staples to buy new colored pencils, notebooks, and pretty much any other office supply you could imagine. I got my first planner in the sixth grade, and every year since then I've had a bit too much fun picking out the perfect organizer. Now five years after college graduation, I feel like tomorrow is the first day of school all over again. And just like elementary school, I have a new notebook and pen ready to go, albeit in a more professional looking bag instead of my old Jansport backpack. I have butterflies in the pit of my stomach, but it's mixed with excitement, and just like the old days, I can't wait to get the schedule for the next five weeks. Nothing like a syllabus on the first day to get me out of bed in the morning. Yes, I'm just that cool.

Tonight the 151st A-100 class hosted a reception to welcome my class, the 153rd A-100, into the Foreign Service. It was great meeting so many of my classmates, and seeing familiar friendly faces from my party last night. At least this will make the first day a bit less nervewracking. Now all that's left is obsessing over the perfect outfit.

Welcome to the Future

Before I can write about where I'm going, I need to take a moment and reflect on where I've been. Maybe it was the fact that I got my first passport when I was five weeks old. Or maybe it was because I had moved five times and visited three continents by the time I was nine. Maybe it was because I was so frustrated that I couldn't communicate with my Urdu-speaking grandmother. Whatever caused it, I have known since I was little that my life would include frequent international travel and exposure to new languages and cultures.And for the past 15 years, I have aspired to join the Foreign Service.

In middle school, I idolized Madeleine Albright as she became the first female Secretary of State. I couldn't imagine a cooler job than flying around the globe and meeting with foreign dignitaries, and my inner feminist was thrilled that a woman represented America abroad. While my teenage understanding of the intricacies of international diplomacy was minimal and a bit simplistic, I knew that I wanted to be involved in solving the world's problems and bringing people closer together. I read what I could about Secretary Albright, and when I learned she received a degree in International Relations I decided I would do the same. I lobbied my parents extensively in an effort to convince them that I must attend college in Washington, DC, and after much debate, they agreed and off I went to The George Washington University. When I received my BA from the Elliott School of International Affairs, I felt one step closer to living my dream.

Fast forward five years, and I'm sitting here in disbelief. I began the application process for the Foreign Service in December 2008, and now I'm less than two weeks away from being sworn in as a United States Diplomat. What began nearly two decades ago as a dream to travel the world, learn new languages, and explore other cultures, will become my reality in just 12 days. Although I have always wanted this, I'm not sure I ever thought it would actually happen. Thank you to everyone who believed in me and helped me to get where I am today. Without your enduring love and support, none of this would have been possible.

I don't want to sound like I'm accepting some award and I won't rattle off a list of people to thank, but I can't ignore how my story wouldn't be possible anywhere else. The fact that the daughter of a small-town Kentucky mom and a Pakistani immigrant dad could be appointed to the United States Diplomatic Corps, due solely to hard work, determination, and support, amazes me. I am so proud to have the opportunity to represent our nation and to show how anything is possible here if you just put your mind to it. I am so proud of the US for welcoming immigrants from all over the world so they can take a chance at living their dreams and providing their children with better lives (my home state's new immigration bill excluded). I think I've devoted more than enough space to this, but I want everyone to know how grateful I am to begin this new career, how humbled I am by my future responsibilities, and how I'll do my best to make everyone back home proud.