The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2020

62 JULY-AUGUST 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL to God, I am grateful for the support network at the embassy before these bad habits took a negative toll on my well-being. My supervisors supported flexible working hours, the deputy chief of mission frequently checked in with the first- and second-tour officers, the chargé d’affaires held town halls, the management section shared resources such as resilience workshops, and the Regional Medical Unit offered therapy consultations. I took advantage of the counseling sessions and began to reconfigure my priorities by making time for hobbies such as reading and writing poetry. This alone time provided for space to pray, meditate, reflect and contemplate, luxuries in an otherwise hustle-and-bustle lifestyle. We marked Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calen- dar, a time for Muslims to fast and become closer to God, under strict social distancing rules. Ramadan is about community and charity, about selflessness and generosity. For the first time in my life, I broke my fast and ate iftar alone at the dining table each evening. Recognizing that calamities can be a time for personal and spiritual growth, I found strength from communal reflection and prayer at the weekly “Halaqa Circles” that I hosted online. My faith keeps me going. I believe that while a dark cloud still lingers above us, and although we might not see it yet, there is a silver lining. Mariya Ilyas joined the Foreign Service in 2018 and is currently a vice consul at U.S. Embassy Amman, her first tour. She speaks Arabic, Urdu, Turkish and Spanish. She hails from Alexandria, Virginia, and enjoys solving sudoku, writing poetry and baking. As an entry-level officer, I have found being a part of the COVID response team a professionally rewarding experience. Yet the long hours eventually led to physical and mental exhaustion.