The Foreign Service Journal, October 2015

AFSA NEWS CALENDAR THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION AFSA High School Essay Winner Goes to Washington THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2015 49 October 7 12-2 p.m. AFSA Governing Board Meeting October 8 2-4 p.m. Retirement Planning Seminar October 9-19 AAFSW’s Art & BookFair State Department Exhibit Hall October 12 Columbus Day: AFSA Offices Closed October 14 12-1 p.m. Luncheon: 184th A-100 Class October 18-22 AFSA Road Scholar Program Washington, D.C. November 4 12-2 p.m. AFSA Governing Board Meeting November 11 Veterans Day: AFSA Offices Closed November 15-19 AFSA Road Scholar Program Washington, D.C. November 19 Second Annual AFSA Book Market November 26 and 27 Thanksgiving: AFSA Offices Closed On Sept. 3, Secretary of State John Kerry presented Thomas Keller, a high school junior from Dallas, Texas, with the 2015 American Foreign Service Association National High School Essay Contest award. The ceremony took place in the Department of State’s Diplomatic Reception Rooms. During their meeting, Sec. Kerry commended Keller on his “well-written and well- researched” essay, which presented microfinance as a critical policy tool for addressing increasingly high crime rates and poverty in Honduras. Every year, AFSA flies the winner and his or her parents to Washington, D.C., for a day of discussions with policy- makers at State and on the Hill. Following his appointment with the Secretary, Keller visited staff in the office of his congressional representa- tive Congressman Pete Ses- sions (R-Texas) and toured the Senate Foreign Relations Committee rooms. The trip also comes with a cash award in the amount of $2,500 and a Semester at Sea scholarship, which Keller may use to travel the world and study once he is accepted into an accred- ited university. In addition, Keller’s high school, The Episcopal School of Dal- las, will receive 10 copies of COURTESYOFJAMESPAN Continued on page 60 AFSA’s popular introduction to the Foreign Service, Inside a U.S. Embassy: Diplomacy at Work (Foreign Service Books, 2011). According to Keller, his visit to Washington, D.C., was a whirlwind experience: “You read about important people in text books and you see them on the news, but to actually have a conversa- tion with them is surreal.” He added, “The fact that [Secre- tary Kerry] took time to read my paper was amazing; he’s quite the busy man.” This year’s runner-up is Anuj Krishnamurthy, a recent graduate of The Lawrence- ville School in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey. Krishnamurthy’s essay recommended expanding and diversifying current ties with Kazakhstan—the world’s ninth largest economy— through cultural diplomacy and commercial connections. He received a scholarship to the National Student Leader- ship Conference’s interna- tional diplomacy program in Washington, D.C. AFSA created the National High School Essay Contest in 1999 to encourage students to learn about the work of the Foreign Service and the significance of diplomacy to national security and prosperity. The contest has increased awareness of the Foreign Service among high school students across Secretary of State John Kerry welcomes AFSA’s National High School Essay Contest Award recipient, Thomas Keller, to the State Department. In his essay, Keller suggested that State assemble a team of “economists, microfinance specialists and business startup experts” to identify suitable microloan candidates in Honduras.