An Old Hand

I joined the Foreign Service on May 1, 2006. There’s a new class starting on September 18 and our class is the welcoming committee. Just like that, I’m a veteran diplomat. Why didn’t anyone tell me this would be so easy?

Actually, I can’t take too much credit for my rapid advancement in the State Department. The orientation class that you are hired into is always responsible for greeting and showing the ropes to the class that enters two after you. I was in the 129th A-100 class and on Monday the 131st class starts. A-100 is the name of the original room that new Foreign Service Officers used to meet in and although that room is no longer used, the name sticks.

Sunday evening our class is hosting a meet and greet for the new folks. Not only does this give us a chance to refine our own social events training, but it helps the new class shake some of the nerves of the first day by allowing them to go in with some friendly faces that they recognize from the night before.

This new class is supposed to be a big one with over 90 members. The Foreign Service Institute, where all of the training is held, is starting to burst at the seams attempting to find room for everyone. Don’t even think of going to the cafeteria at noon. As big as the last few classes have been, the watercooler talk is that hiring is going to start to decline next year. The Diplomatic Readiness Initiative that Colin Powell instituted when he was Secretary of State has expired and with it the money to hire beyond attrition is also drying up. I feel lucky to have gotten in when I did.