Foreign Service

I've been sitting here for some time thinking of an eloquent, articulate way of blogging the fact that I just passed the Foreign Service Oral Exam, and I've concluded that the best way of intimating it is just by saying it. I passed the Foreign Service Oral Exam.

And now, if I may hop on that horse named Sentimentality, I wish to elucidate my thoughts:

Of my attained successes in life, this ranks among the highest thus far. Getting into BYU was a major success (that place is hard to get in to). Serving an honorable mission was a success (some days the mission just sucked). Graduating BYU was a definite success (that place is insanely difficult with all the cut-throating that goes on there). But for a host of reasons, I feel this most recent of successes carries different, perhaps greater significance. Maybe it was how notoriously hard both the written test and this oral exam were that makes it so satisfying (all I can say is I'm glad I never have to go through that again). Maybe it is the prestige that accompanies the career of Foreign Service Officers that enthuses me. Or maybe, just maybe, it is that I was able to do something, against all odds, that I have dreamed of doing.

(And here's where I hop back down off Sentimentality - she's only good for short rides anyway).

So, after passing the written test, and after writing acceptable essays, and after completing a gruelling 7am to 4pm oral examination, I have made it. Now I just have to wait for a security clearance to go through and I will be set on my way to the first of hopefully a career full of posts around the world. Cool huh?