The Foreign Service Journal, February 2010

F O C U S O N L I F E & W O R K A F T E R T H E F S L IFE A FTER THE FS: R ETIREES S PEAK U P 42 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 ozens of Foreign Service re- tirees responded to the AFSAnet solicitation the Journal sent out asking for insights and information on their ex- periences since leaving the Service. Our thanks to all who contributed to this compilation. — Steven Alan Honley, Editor A R ETURN TO H IGHER E DUCATION In mid-2000, I contemplated the possibilities for on- ward assignment that would meet the education needs of my family and found just one possible overseas posting that would work. Realizing that I had just attained the necessary combination of years and service for retirement, I put out feelers for a possible post-FS position. While I never really expected much to materialize, I derived some satisfaction from the gesture. Prior to entering the Foreign Service, I had worked in higher education administration and always assumed that, following an FS retirement, I was likely to return to aca- demia. Still, I was astounded when the search committee for the position of vice chancellor for administrative serv- ices at what is now the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Mo., invited me to take part in a video-conference interview. In talking with committee members now, I realize I had been asked because they were curious about why some guy in Europe with a “posh” diplomatic posting would be interested in such a position. That meeting, which took place across town from the embassy when the city was experiencing the semi-anarchy that accompanies meetings of the IMF, went very well. I was subsequently invited to make a visit to the campus and took a week’s va- cation for a quick trip to the heartland. It was not all that difficult to translate my experience as an administrative officer into something relevant to the campus’s needs, and it was apparent that both the search committee chair and the campus chancellor thought I could bring something to the job that would help them. But while I was on that trip, I received word that my on- ward assignment would be that one posting I had really thought was the perfect match. So I faced a tough choice. In the final analysis, I decided that another opportunity like the one before me was unlikely to pop up again. With two children approaching college, I also had concerns about covering their expenses onmy FS salary. Furthermore, the thought of working for the rumored ambassadorial choice of the incoming George W. Bush administration for that “perfect” posting was not encouraging. As it has turned out, leaving in early 2001 was the right decision. My wife, after 20 years of Foreign Service life, now teaches in the university’s math department. Both our kids completed high school here, and one took ad- R ETIREES SHARE STORIES OF THEIR POST -F OREIGN S ERVICE ADVENTURES AND OFFER ADVICE TO COLLEAGUES — INCLUDING FUTURE RETIREES . D