Catch Up

Let's catch everyone up to speed on a few FS things.
There are 5 FS career tracks, or cones. The State Department describes them in this way (http://careers.state.gov/officer/index.html):
* Consular: Consular Officers protect Americans abroad and strengthen U.S. border security.
* Economic: Economic Officers work on economic partnerships and development, support U.S. businesses abroad, and cover environmental, science, technology, and health issues.
* Management: Management Officers run our embassies and make American diplomacy work.
* Political: Political Officers analyze political events.
* Public Diplomacy: Public Diplomacy Officers explain American values and policies.

Basically, Consular officers help Americans in trouble abroad and issue visas. A Con officer spends a lot of time on the visa line, interviewing applicants, using language and cultural knowledge to determine if they are being truthful or not. They say Con officers have the best stories and really get to know the pulse of the country. I love that. I also am attracted to the American citizen (Amcit) work. I used to think about pursuing disaster relief work but couldn't handle the thought of tremendous tragedy, all the time. It sounds like working in ACS (American citizens services) can be tragic and difficult (helping report an Amcit death, visiting Amcits in prison, helping with child abduction cases) but also mundane (helping with lost passports, registering Americans born abroad, etc). I like that variety and love the idea of using my customer service, language, and cultural skills and knowledge to help my fellow citizens. I feel like I will really be able to make a difference to someone who is scared, lost, or helpless. I hope so.