The document discusses three topics: 1) the career of a Foreign Service Officer, outlining the selection process and responsibilities of the role, 2) the International Policy program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, describing degree requirements and costs, and 3) a gap year dive internship in Thailand, providing details on certification opportunities and costs of the program.

1. 1. The Foreign Service seeks a diverse workforce with broad job skills and a depth of experience
to represent the US overseas. Briefly describe why you chose the career track you selected. This
is the prompt from the personal narrative phase of the FSOT. You are only allowed 1300
characters in your answer so I have expanded my original essay.
2. The audience for this is the selection review committee for potential foreign service officers.
All members of the committee are foreign service officers themselves, with each service cone
represented.
3.
Throughout my life I was taught by my parents that honesty, kindness, respect,
compassion, leadership, drive, and excellence were virtues of the highest order. And so they got
me involved in groups and organizations that endorsed those values. Youth sports and cub scouts
evolved into the Boy Scouts, competitive athletics, and student government. I came to know
what those values truly meant and how to apply them in my daily life. In high school I was
selected to participate in the 2005 California Boys’ State. It was there as I gave a speech in front
of hundreds of bright, talented, ambitious young men that I felt the first spark of desire for public
service.
I entered San Diego State University and pursued a bachelors in international security
and conflict resolution with an emphasis in environment and security and a minor in Arabic and
Islamic studies. I studied a broad array of subjects including political science, history and the
economics of natural resources. I was also fortunate enough to study abroad at New College,
Oxford University where I received lectures from world renown scholars on international
relations. This broad swath of subjects and educational experiences fueled my interests in
international politics and relations.
I was able to secure an internship as a research associate at the World Trade Center San
Diego where I worked on market research projects for water technology companies hoping to
begin exporting to the Middle East. I was made a team leader and put in charge of a team to
prepare several presentations and workshops under the Resiliency and Resumption Initiative, a
project which outlined steps regional businesses would need to take to continue business in the
event of a major catastrophe. This internship gave me firsthand experience in dealing with
international trade issues and lent substance to the way I view trade from my class lectures. The
interconnectedness that a globalized economy brings doesn’t quite jump off the textbook page as
quickly as fielding calls from five separate nations in as many minutes. I would be thrilled to
expand on my experience at the World Trade Center San Diego to work to shape and implement
the trade policies that bring different parts of the world closer to the United States.
I chose the economic career track of the foreign service because of the breadth of subjects
that the job entails. I am particularly interested in trade, technology, the environment and in
particular how in the globalized economy that we live in today the economic policies of one
nation can have far reaching and unintended effects on nations from the other side of the globe. I
find it fascinating how closely the economic factors of a decision will have a political, social, and
environmental impact. I would be honored to be selected to serve as a foreign service officer and
use my education and talents to help further the economic aims of the United States.

2. 1. The job that I am most interested in is the position of Foreign Service Officer for the U.S.
Department of State. The Foreign Service consists of approximately 12,000 professional who
work in over 250 diplomatic missions around the world in embassies, consulates, and other
facilities. The mission statement of the State Department is to, "Shape and sustain a peaceful,
prosperous, just, and democratic world and foster conditions for stability and progress for the
benefit of the American people and people everywhere." The Foreign Service takes this mission
statement and pushes its message abroad while advancing the interests of the United States. The
Foreign Service is the first line in the diplomacy effort and was created in 1924 by the Rogers
Act which combined all consular and diplomatic duties into a single administrative unit. Since
then the Foreign Service has undergone many changes with the Foreign Service act of 1946 and
1980. These acts further refined and defined the scope of the Foreign Service. Foreign Service
Officers are expected to have worldwide availability, should expect to serve two thirds of their
career overseas, and must gain superior proficiency in either two languages or one super-hard/
super-critical language such as Mandarin or Arabic.
The Foreign Service has a very long and tough selection process. The first step is to pick
one of five career cones of the Foreign Service: Political, Economic, Consular, Management, and
Public Diplomacy. One can not change their career cone later in the process and rarely can you
change cones during your career so one must be sure of what they would like to do. It is
recommended that applicants speak with a diplomat-in-residence before applying to find out
more about the career. The next step in the selection process is to take the Foreign Service
Officer Test which has four parts: a job knowledge, an english expression and grammar, a
biographic, and a timed essay. The essay is only graded if the previous three sections received a
passing score. The test is scored using a t-score system and thus there is not a hard and fast pass
score. Applicants compete against each other. If a passing score is given, each applicant must
answer six personal narrative questions which show the thirteen characteristics dimensions that
the State Department looks for. The next step is the Oral interviews which consist of a structured
group exercise, a panel interview, and a case management exercise. Should an applicant receive a
passing score they will go on to complete a security clearance check and a medical clearance.
Once completed a final review panel will rank applicants among the five cones and place them
on the register. Job offers proceed by ranking on the register and if no job offer is given within a
year you are taken off. If a job is offered, the next step is to take the A-100 orientation class in
Washington D.C. and once graduated go on to either language study or one's first post abroad.
The salary of a new hire depends on a variety of factors, such as education and relevent
experience, but the midpoint base salary for an entry level Foreign Service Officer is $50,000.
Base pay is also adjusted for locality which can add 24% for service in Washington D.C., and
about 9% abroad. When abroad at what is called a hardship post, pay is also adjusted up to 35%.
There are also many allowances such as: a moving allowance, furnished housing or a stipend,
education for any children while overseas, danger pay, a home leave which pays your travel from
your duty post back to the U.S., and paid leave that equates to six weeks for every two years
abroad. There is also government health and life insurance available at low cost. Retirement can
come as early as fifty with twenty years service and there is also a voluntary thrift savings plan.
In addition to these, this career offers the chance to travel the world, meet interesting people,
visit exotic locales, and help shape U.S. interests abroad.

3. 2. The Monterey Institute of International Studies is a world renowned institution. This
institution is committed to preparing its students to become innovative professionals capable of
leadership in cross-cultural and multilingual enviornments. Nearly half of the student body are
international students. The Monterey Institute has a unique “Monterey Way” learning model that
ensures students learn through firsthand experiences in more than one language. The MA
International Policy has two tracks: Trade, Investment & Development or Human Security &
Development. This program offers a wide combination of learning formats from the traditional
rigorous courses and seminars to immersive learning and in-country experiences.
Admission to the International Policy programs are based on a candidates prior academic
record, professional experience and applicants must show some level of language proficiency.
The level of proficiency depends on the language of study. International Policy students are
required to complete twelve credits of advanced foreign language study as part of their degree
program, and all twelve units must be dedicated to a single language of study. For Arabic,
students must be ready to start at the second year college level. Past successful applicants have
had at least one academic year of beginning language instruction. Irregardless of their past
instruction, all candidates must pass a language placement test. While it is not required, it is
strongly recommended that students complete their economics prerequisite by either showing
they have passed introductory micro and macro economics in the last three years with a B or
better, or by passing the intensive preparatory course offered at the Monterey Institute. While
standardized scores are not required for consideration, applicants may submit them to positively
influence merit scholarship awards as well as to boost undergraduate applicants with less than a
3.0 GPA.
The Trade, Investment, and Development Track requires 60 credit hours. Four core
classes are Policy Analysis, Global Politics, Data Analysis for Public Policy and either
Introduction to Trade Policy and International Economics or Development Economics and
Development Theory and Practice. Twelve credits from an approved seminar list on various trade
and development topics, another fourteen credits from electives, and a six to twelve unit
culminating experience which can be fulfilled through research assistantships, international
internships, or an interesting program called the International Professional Service Semester
where students are immersed in a work experience as a junior professional staff member of an
international organization. There are also many study abroad programs and opportunities
available both through the Monterey Institute or through affiliated Middlebury schools abroad
Student expenses for this program are estimated at $51,571 per year or $25,785 a
semester. Tuition is $1,615 per unit and full time students may take between twelve and sixteen
units per semester. There are numerous merit based scholarships available that can range from
$4,000-$16,000 per academic year.

4. 3. My third report is for a gap year dive internship in Pattaya, Thailand. The internship is
put on by the Mermaids Career Development Center located in Pattaya, Thailand. Mermaids dive
center has been training PADI Instructors to work in the dive industry since 1991. There are less
than 100 platinum PADI course directors in the world and the Mermaid center is home to two
platinum PADI course directors. The center is the most active and experience PADI Career
Development Center From Bangkok to Cambodia. Mermaids is the only dive center to offer a
plethora of dive and learning opportunities such as: National Geographic Diver certification, full
face mask training, ASSET dry diver programs, and many more.
There are a variety of internships available to choose from, but the most extensive is the
“Zero to Hero” internship. This seven month internship is designed for someone who has never
SCUBA dived before and takes them through to the rank of PADI Dive Instructor. The only
requirement to take this internship is to be eighteen and be in good health. The internship
includes all PADI and DAN membership fees, PADI required dive courses, PADI course
materials and fees, unlimited dives, your own set of dive equipment to keep after your internship,
and accommodation for up to seven months. The Mermaid center also provides transfer from
Bangkok airport, visa assistance during your training, and membership to their exclusive diver
job assistance program to help find your first job after your internship. In addition to the required
dive courses, there are elective dive courses that you may take that are included in your training
such as: Night diver, deep diver, search and recovery, dry suit diver, enriched air, underwater film
and photography, and many others.
As soon as the student intern has qualified as a rescue diver, which will be in the first
month of the internship they are classified as a divemaster trainee and will be helping in the shop
and with dive trips. Once the two week divemaster course is completed the intern will get to lead
dives, take tours, give boat and dive briefings, assist instructors and generally get the feel of
working in a busy dive shop while you continue to study and gain dive experience for the
instructor tests. The remaining months are spent on speciality courses and getting your dive
count and experience up.
The seven month “Zero to Hero” internship costs 354,800 Thai baht or about $11,200.
While this may seem like a lot of money it does cover accommodations for seven months, your
own dive equipment, all the course materials and fees, unlimited dives, food when you are out on
the boat diving, and an amazing international work experience. The program can be made
cheaper by not attaining the level of instructor. One could do a three month internship to become
a Master SCUBA Diver which is the highest non-professional level for only 165,000 baht or
$5,200.