The Foreign Service Journal, December 2013

60 DECEMBER 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT in on one colorful experience that casts your background into context. Generally, I recommend the latter; talking about your FS experiences in general doesn’t make for as compelling reading as a specific example does, especially if your writing utilizes as many of the five senses as pos- sible. Remember the prompt, however— whatever story you tell must be “central to your identity.” ■ Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn? Almost all members of the Foreign Service community have experienced failure, most often in communicating in a foreign language or understanding the culture of one’s host country. Essays based on this prompt can run the gamut from the comic to the serious, but should spell out those “lessons learned” in the second half of the essay. ■ Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? This essay basically asks for a dem- onstration of critical thinking, which is a hot topic with universities these days. Why? Recently many college professors have noticed a decline in writing and reasoning skills among their first-year students. Again, living or having lived overseas lends itself beautifully to the topic of challenging a belief, simply because Foreign Service kids are exposed to other ideologies throughout their childhood. ■ Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you? Again, a perfect “Foreign Service” question. Describing a place where most Americans have never been will instantly set you apart from other applicants. Try to be as specific as possible in choosing this place, however. If it’s a library, for example, make sure to play up what’s different about it in comparison with an American facility. If you love going to a special beach on The new Common App is also full of glitches—some merely inconvenient, others more serious.