The Foreign Service Journal, October 2018

58 OCTOBER 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS AFSA Honors National High School Essay Contest Winner AFSA’s national high school essay contest, our lead- ing outreach program to high school students, is 20 years old this year. The contest drew almost 1,000 essays—from 48 states, two territories and five other countries (Indonesia, Burma, South Korea, Tanzania and the United Kingdom) this year. The research papers all demonstrated an interest in the Foreign Service and showed that the applicants are globally engaged citizens who care about diplomacy and development. On July 18, AFSA Presi- dent Ambassador Barbara Stephenson met with this year’s essay winner, Jennifer John, at a reception hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace, a contest sponsor. Jennifer, a rising home-schooled senior from Redwood City, Califor- nia, also met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, USIP President Nancy Lindborg and Semester at Sea rep- resentative Michael Zoll. In addition, AFSA staff accom- panied Jennifer to Capitol Hill for a meeting at the office of her congresswoman, Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.). Jennifer admitted that when she started the research for her paper she knew very little about the Foreign Service but became both impressed and inter- ested as her research con- tinued. As the essay contest winner, she receives $2,500 now and full tuition for a Semester at Sea educational voyage during college. Ambassador Stephenson also met with the contest runner-up, Aislinn Niimi, a rising home-schooled 11th grader from Matthews, North Carolina. Aislinn spent an afternoon at AFSA while she was in Washington for the National Student Leadership Conference’s International Diplomacy Program, which was part of her essay contest prize. She then visited the office of her congressman, Robert Pittenger (R-N.C.). n Essay winner Jennifer John with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Coordination of FEHB and Medicare On Aug. 23 AFSA welcomed Paula Jakub, the chief executive officer and executive vice president of the American Foreign Service Protective Association (AFSPA), which administers the Foreign Service Benefit Plan, to speak about “The Coordination of FEHB and Medicare.” Ms. Jakub is formally recognized as a subject matter expert in federal health benefits by the Foreign Service Institute, where she serves on the adjunct faculty. She is also the execu- tive director of the Senior Living Foundation of the American Foreign Service, an organization devoted to helping elderly Foreign Service retirees and their surviving spouses. A comprehensive Q&A session followed the formal portion of the program, which was attended by more than 100 AFSA members. A video of the event can be viewed at www.afsa.org/video. n U.S.DEPARTMENTOFSTATE AFSA/DIMITRYFILIPOFF Retiree Benefits Counselor Dolores Brown introduces Ms. Jakub.