The Other Washington

At the beginning of November, I altered my routine again to walk in Washington D. C. I spent a long weekend in our nation's capital visiting our daughter Rachel (affectionately known as Coco). It was the week of her swearing-in at the State Department. I must admit I was busting my buttons with pride as our Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, led Rachel and her fellow officers in their oath of service.

Speaking of Dr. Rice, I must say she spoke with all the intelligence and poise for which she is known in the media. It would be a privilege to work with such a person. I don't envy her the foreign policy challenges she faces, but I wish her God's blessing!

Rachel was hired by the State Dept. and has done her training with 92 fellow classmates, some of whom are shown here posing with Secretary Rice. (The arrow points to Rachel.)
There were 93 embassy and consulate positions open, among which this class of new Foreign Service Officers would be posted. My wife and I are very proud that in spite of the competition, Rachel won her first-choice posting and will spend a two-year tour in Tel Aviv, Israel. (She will study Hebrew full-time in D. C. until leaving for the Middle East in August, 2007.)

While I'm bragging, we were tickled to read in a The New York Times article on "The Foreign Service Exam" by TAMAR LEWIN (December 17, 2006), that the test is "perhaps the nation's leading smarty-pants exam":

THE path to the Foreign Service has always been straight and narrow: the first step is the written test, perhaps the nation's leading smarty-pants exam. Since 1932, hundreds of thousands of applicants have grappled with a half-day of questions on geography, English usage, history, math, economics, culture and more.

"It's like being on a golf course," said Justin Norton, a 26-year-old who flunked the test this year and last, but wants to take it again. "You've got all the sand traps, the water hazards. I remember I didn't understand the question about economies of scale. I remember something about Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance. And sometimes even when I knew it, like a question about George Kennan and containment policy, I got it wrong anyway."

It is not an easy exam to study for. The State Department suggests reading a good daily newspaper for a year. There are prep books, and at places with lots of applicants, like the Fletcher School at Tufts University, maybe even a study group. But mostly, people prepare on their own, looking through a world atlas, the Constitution or the word problems they did on the SAT.

Still, the exam gets rid of most applicants. More than three-quarters of the 17,000 to 20,000 who take the exam each year flunk. Even those who pass often remember for years the lacunae in their general knowledge exposed by the test.... (emphasis mine)

Rachel passed the exam on her first try. Not bad for a home-schooled girl whose higher education never included college!

I was intrigued to learn all the different titles that Rachel has as a Foreign Service Officer, including a military rank. She is a vice-consul, a third secretary and a first lieutenant. In view of the New York Times article, we're now addressing Rachel as, "Vice-Consul, Third Secretary, First Lieutenant Smarty Pants Coco."