The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2014

60 JULY-AUGUST 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS Westgate BY NATALIE LEWIS-VASS 20 1 4 AFSA MER I T AWARDS— BEST ESSAY WI NNER I have always lived in a safe place. In Vermont, I enjoyed a nearly Rockwellian childhood. We never locked our house, knew our neighbors, had rou- tines, close family and shared a common culture with the community. Life was simple and I never worried about my safety. A world of vio- lence, robberies and terrorist attacks happened on TV, in books and articles. Then I moved to Nairobi. My most memorable Foreign Service experience was the loss of that innocence. My mom had recently joined the Foreign Service and I had to change schools in my senior year and relo- cate to Africa. My senior plans, which had included concerts, friends, extracur- ricular activities and a care- fully selected class schedule, were abandoned. Instead, I was moving to a place nicknamed “Nairobbery” and sent to a class called “Security Overseas,” where I was taught what to do if I was kidnapped, held at gun-point or evacuated. While the class was interesting, I thought it was fairly useless informa- tion. I arrived in Nairobi and found my life was quickly similar to Vermont. I made friends, ran track, and had good classes. Nairobi didn’t seem that different from other places, but on Septem- ber 23rd, that all changed. Al-Shabaab attacked the Westgate Mall, a place where I went to see movies and sipped coffee with my friends. A girl from my school was killed and one of my track teammates sustained a gunshot wound. The siege dragged on for days and we feared there would be more attacks. The community was devastated by the hor- rific losses and the fear was paralyzing. This event changed me almost instantly. Immedi- ately, I began to draw on my “Security Overseas” [Semi- nar] I had dismissed just two months earlier. When I walk into a restaurant, I assess the best escape routes and try to sit with a view to the door. I time my outings so I’m not in crowded places during peak times. I observe my surroundings closely, to pick up on anomalies quickly and assess if they are dangerous. I am a far cry from the teen I would have been, had we stayed in Vermont. The Westgate Mall terror- ist attack was terrible, but it is also my most memorable Foreign Service experience in positive ways. After resenting my mother for moving me in my senior year, I witnessed first-hand how important her work is, as she and her colleagues spent hours in hospitals and morgues to make things easier for Ameri- cans in devastating situa- tions. I became inspired by the Kenyans’ response to the attack, as they descended on hospitals to give blood for the injured, just a few miles from the ongoing siege. People had the choice to hunker down in fear or to rally and meet the challenge. Witness- ing the response to Westgate has shaped who I am. n Natalie Lewis-Vass is the daughter of Valerie Vass (State) and Matthew Con- ger. She graduated from the International School of Kenya in Nairobi, and is attending the University of Massachu- setts-Amherst with an unde- clared major in the fall. ÁSGEIRSIGFÚSSON From left, Merit Award winner Olivia Sullivan, Representative Christopher Van Hollen (D-Md.), AFSA Scholarship Director Lori Dec, AFSA President Robert Silverman and AFSA Scholarship Committee Chair Ambassador Lange Schermerhorn in conversation following the merit award ceremony.