The Foreign Service Journal, September 2011

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 29 terest in being part of the management cone in the For- eign Service. I knew that the Foreign Service was the right place to meet my new life goal of using my skills and abilities to build America’s relations with the people of the Middle East and North Africa. I pursued entry into the Foreign Service right after grad- uation, but initially had no luck. As I worked in the private sector I never forgot that passion. And once I had some relevant work experience under my belt, I was able to join the Foreign Service in 2009 and be assigned to the con- sular section here in Riyadh. Above and beyondmy daily duties, I am thankful for the opportunity to get out andmeet Saudi people. I have found that they would like to move beyond 9/11, and I look for- ward to advancing our dialogue and building a new future. Daniel J. Tarapacki FSO, Consular Section Embassy Riyadh A Formative Trauma The 9/11 attacks occurred during my first week of col- lege, and were a formative trauma for my generation. They shaped the notion of patriotism for us throughout college, creating an immediate, righteous indignation that still marks our thinking about international affairs and America’s place in the world in a way that the final phase of the Cold War during our very early childhood could not. Those strong feelings were matched two years later by fierce questioning of the decision to pursue what most of us deemed a war of choice in Iraq. The nation’s economic recovery from the attacks and their ripple effects also played a significant role in mold- ing my generation’s outlook. After graduating at the height of the subsequent economic boom, less than four years after the collapse of the World Trade Center tow- ers, nearly half of my college classmates entered into ca- reers in finance or management consulting. Fewer than a half-dozen of them entered military service and, as far as I know, none went into the Foreign Service. But many of my peers have gradually gravitated toward careers in public service, some explicitly to prevent another tragedy like 9/11. After reliving those frantic moments during my first week of college, my mind moves forward to President Barack Obama’s announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden. His rise and fall bookend the decade. I am a member of the 163rd A-100 Class, which be- gins training on Sept. 12, the day after the 10-year an- niversary of bin Laden’s attacks. We will train and serve our country in honor of the victims of 9/11, mindful that it will be up to us to continue the work those already in the Foreign Service are doing. Dahm Choi FSO, 163rd A-100 Class Washington, D.C. Writing the Next Chapter On Sept. 11, 2001, I was a blond-haired, green-eyed, slightly naïve college student from a small town in south- ern California who knew very little about Afghanistan and even less about al-Qaida. The events of that day irrevo- cably altered the shape of my dreams and the course of my life. I was fortunate enough not to lose any loved ones in the attacks, but the force of the change in my per- ception of the world blew the doors of my cozy, safe, in- sular world wide open and brought with it the realization that nothing would ever be the same again. For those of us who became adults post-9/11, our life choices have been indelibly shaped by that day. I even- tually joined the Foreign Service and, when bidding on my second tour, readily volunteered for service in Afghanistan. I will spend the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks posted to Kabul as an assistant information officer in the public affairs section. I am often asked why someone like me would go to Afghanistan. As a friend recently put it, “You can go any- where, do anything. Why would you volunteer for such a dangerous assignment?” My answer is simple. I am proud and honored to be the face of my country abroad. Seeing someone like me — an “all-American girl” — is precisely what signals our commitment to an Afghan-led reconciliation and peace process. It symbolizes our will- ingness to share the best of what America has to offer with the rest of the world. The story of Afghanistan over the past few decades has been saturated in blood and punctuated by displacement and destruction. I hope that our work here will ensure that the next chapter is one of hope, reconstruction and reconciliation. Erin Rattazzi FSO, Public Affairs Section Embassy Kabul C OVER S TORY