The Foreign Service Journal, June 2010

F O C U S O N T H E C O N S U L A R F U N C T I O N W HY I C HOSE C ONSULAR 46 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 1 0 I F I C AN M AKE I T T HERE … I entered the Foreign Service in 1993, unconed and un- aware of the consular function. My top bid in A-100 was Lagos, Nigeria, and my assignments officer happily as- signed me to a consular-economic rotation there. After enduring countless stories of visa fraud (and other hard- ships) prior to departing for post, I began my tour as a non- immigrant visa officer. While there were many elements of life in Lagos that were quite difficult, consular work was not one of them. I enjoyed the camaraderie of working on the visa team, the challenge of a high-fraud visa environment, and the satis- faction of an honest day’s (hard) work. My year in the eco- nomic section was also interesting, but I missed the drama of the consular world. I found that I enjoyed the same aspects of consular work during my second tour in NewDelhi. So when I was tenured halfway through that assignment, choosing a cone was a no-brainer. I reasoned that if I liked consular work in Nigeria and India, I’d probably like it anywhere. I asked to be coned consular, a decision I’ve never regretted. Mark Strege Deputy Consul General Embassy Seoul A H ELPFUL V OICE While my husband and I were vacationing at Lake Ati- tlan in Guatemala in 2006, Hurricane Stan’s heavy rains devastated the region with floods and mudslides. Safe but stranded, we could sense growing panic among other tourists and local people as they realized the limited amount of food, fuel and other supplies in the area, so I called the U.S. embassy— twice. I called first during busi- ness hours, and the operator — probably overwhelmed at the time — told me to “watch the news” and promptly hung up. I remember thinking, “But I am the news.” So I called back a few hours later, this time on the emergency number, and reached the duty officer. Over the next 48 hours my husband and I worked closely with the embassy to communicate evacuation plans to tourists (who were making plans to hike out on an un- stable mountainside — yikes!) and to check on Americans (whose families were trying to make sure they were okay — which they were). This “American Citizen Services work” and later conversations with that duty officer per- suaded me to join the Foreign Service as a consular officer. I’ll soon finish my first Foreign Service assignment (as a political officer), and look forward to beginning my con- sular duties so I might one day be that helpful voice at the S EVEN F OREIGN S ERVICE EMPLOYEES OFFER INSIGHTS INTO WHAT MAKES CONSULAR WORK REWARDING — IF ALSO , AT TIMES , FRUSTRATING .