The Foreign Service Journal, February 2013

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | FEBRUARY 2013 61 AFSA NEWS AFSA Financial Aid College Scholarship Application Deadline Is March 6 AFSA members’ children have until March 6 to apply for an AFSA undergraduate, need-based scholarship for the 2013-2014 school year.  Awards range from $1,500 to $4,000 and are for full-time students enrolled in a U.S. or overseas two or four-year institution. For details, please go to www.afsa.org/ scholar o r contact AFSA Scholarship Director Lori Dec at dec@afsa.org o r (202) 944-5504. NEWS BRIEF I have been a Foreign Service family member since 1978. My husband, David W. Hess, is a retired U.S. Agency for International Development Foreign Service officer and current AFSA member. We are both passionate about Semester at Sea. I have been associated with the Semester at Sea program since the fall of 1966, when I spent a junior- year semester circumnavi- gating the globe on the S.S. Ryndam . In those days, the program was called the Uni- versity of the Seven Seas and Chapman College in Orange, Calif., was the academic sponsor. Today, the Institute for Shipboard Education admin- isters Semester at Sea, the ship is the M.V. Explorer and the academic sponsor is the University of Virginia. This year, the program is celebrat- ing its 50th anniversary. AFSA is proud to be a partner with ISE/SAS, and grateful for their sponsorship of our High School Essay Contest by providing a semester at sea to the first place winner. Now that you have the background, let me entice you with the SAS Lifelong Learner Program and Enrich- ment Voyages—both offering exciting educational travel opportunities for FS-types. The SAS Lifelong Learn- ing Program provides adult learners the opportunity to join the SAS academic com- munity. Lifelong learners are participants 40 years of age or older who desire to study with bright and enthusiastic undergraduate students from around the world and include retirees, professionals on leave or simply adventurous travelers. Lifelong learners par- ticipate in undergraduate courses, attend field excur- sions, serve as mentors to undergraduates, conduct seminars in their respective areas of expertise and add a valuable generational ele- ment to class discussions. For more on the program, please see www.semesterat- sea.org/lifelonglearning. Are You a Lifelong Learner? Enrichment Voyages, of shorter duration, offer a unique travel-and-learn voy- age program that connects you to fascinating destina- tions and topics worldwide. The program features some of the world’s leading instruc- tors and experts in history, culture, marine studies, the environment and the arts, and offers field experiences and service trips for all ages. To view upcoming itineraries, please see http://enrich- mentvoyages.org. For decades, Foreign Ser- vice officers have provided in- port and inter-port lectures to SAS voyagers. David and I have enjoyed Enrichment Voyages and Alumni Reunion Voyages (including the recent reunion in January), during which we give volunteer lec- tures on the Foreign Service to the shipboard community. Each time we come off the ship we plot our next oppor- tunity to sail! If your interest is piqued (and you wonder what Unreasonable at Sea is) please feel free to contact me at ayerst@afsa.org. or visit www.semesteratsea.org. n Archbishop Desmond Tutu, with ISE President Les McCabe, joins the SAS Spring 2013 voyage to Cape Town as a mentor as part of the Unreasonable at Sea project. The M.V. Explorer docked in Ensenada, Mexico, during the January Alumni Reunion Voyage. PHOTOSBYDONNAAYERST ACT I VE AFTER ACT I VE- DUTY BY DONNA AYERST, AFSA NEWS EDITOR