January 27, 2009: A Day that Will Live in Gloriousness

If I’ve already called and told you all this then feel free to skip to the 10% off dry cleaning coupon at the bottom of the page, but on January 27^th I passed the final stage of the Foreign Service Officer selection process.

It’s a multi-stage process that I started years ago when I took the written exam, right after graduating from Western. Over the next couple of years I took the written part two more times before finally passing it in June of 2009. The next stage was to submit several short essays which I passed as well.

The oral section of the exam is the last and supposedly most difficult section. About 20% of people pass the first time with many taking it numerous times before passing. The thing that’s so frustrating is that if you fail you have to start the process over from the beginning.

When Kim and I got home from Christmas break I started studying and preparing. The State Department provides fairly comprehensive study and introductory materials. There are also several independently organized study groups in the area so I had no shortage of papers, files, personal accounts of the exam, etc. to get me started. The oral exam has three parts- a group exercise where six applicants are given several projects and limited resources and have to decide on which projects to fund, a memo writing section, and a 2-on-1 interview. For the group exercise I found a couple sample files on line and practiced with the study groups that meet around here. I also made Kim listen to me give my little presentations that each person has to give during the exercise. For the interview section I wrote up every question I could imagine them asking and then had Kim interview me. They didn’t ask me any of those questions but it was helpful practice.

The day of the exam I felt pretty confident. There were only six of us testing that day and we all got along and worked together well. After each of the exercises I felt I had performed well, but only at the end of the day do they tell you how you’ve done. After completing the final exercise we had to wait for more than an hour before receiving our results. I hadn’t been nervous all day but during this time I started to worry. Knowing that so few pass I was ready to get bad news and take the exam again. But as I sat there looking back on the day I felt strongly that I’d done well at everything. I was worried that if I didn’t pass I really wouldn’t know how to come back and improve a second time. Each stage had gone as well as I had hoped.

Finally they called each of our names one at a time. After everyone else had been called, a professor and I were called in together and told we had passed the oral exam. The examiners were very congratulatory and seemed genuinely excited that we had passed. It was a great day and texting Kim to tell her I’d passed was obviously fantastic.

Now we’re on to the next stage, medical and security clearances. I got my medical clearance on Friday and Kim will finish hers once the baby comes. The security clearance will take a lot longer. I’m supposed to expect a call in a month or so and then an investigator will start working with me to go through my background, contact all kinds of people, and basically make sure I’m not a threat to national security. We’ll keep you guys update but if it all goes smoothly I should be able to start training this summer and then be posted at an embassy by this time next year or even earlier.

Thanks for all your prayers and thanks for reading!

Here's Patrick the morning of the big test. Looking so handsome and confidant with his new suit and nice green tie he got for Christmas from my parents.