The Foreign Service Journal - March 2018

14 MARCH 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Share your thoughts about this month’s issue. Submit letters to the editor: journal@afsa.org speak with are interested in international service, and many come well-equipped with several foreign languages. Most of them strike me as the kind of people who would thrive at a U.S. embassy abroad. I nearly always ask if they have considered taking the Foreign Service exam. Most say they had considered it, but never registered. So I encourage them to apply to take it. We find ourselves in a period when the press isn’t good, and the career seems less appealing. This is unfortunate, since the Foreign Service would appear to be ideally suited to the interests of the current generation. The newest college-educated, career-ready graduates are searching for real meaning in their life’s work. The Foreign Service is about just that—service—and also offers graduates the opportunity to represent American values at a crucial time in world history, where their skills and their insight have a potential to make a real difference. So I am impressed with the students and recent graduates I meet who say, “You know, maybe I will take that exam.” The future leaders I meet are just the sort of people who would do well in a Foreign Service career. They give me hope for the future of the Foreign Ser- vice at a time when, more than ever, we need our best and brightest to pursue careers in public service. Allan E. Goodman President and CEO, Institute of International Education Washington, D.C. n