A: My family was very nervous when I went to Saudi Arabia, and, strangely enough, going around in an armored car becomes normal. My philosophy is that I could be walking down the street in my home town and get hit by a bus, but the likelihood that I'm targeted because I'm a diplomat is just something I live with; it comes with the job. ... I try to not go around waving the black passport that often, but it's the cost of doing my job and serving my country.
Q: Do you feel you're kind of a forerunner for this new administration seeing as you are a female diplomat serving in places like Saudi Arabia?
A: Oh man, I wish. Starting in the Bush administration, they made a huge push to include women and minorities. That's one thing I like to talk about, the changing face of the diplomatic Corps. It did used to be an all white male club, usually they had graduated from Yale and Harvard, but if we're going to tell America's message, it has to be in a way that reflects all of America.
Q: Were there many women serving in Saudi Arabia?
A: I worked with a large group of women. They take a certain amount of joy in sending blond women over there to serve. I never blend. It gave me a much different perspective being a female in Saudi Arabia.
Q: Now going back to a point you made earlier, even though the Foreign Service is typically seen as the "good old boys from Yale," is it becoming easier for a student from, say, Virginia Tech to get a job?
A: Absolutely. Alumni still go back to their alma maters to recruit, but we are making an effort to get the word out to more schools. I think we could be a little better at advertising ourselves. Most people don't really know what we do, which becomes a problem when they get in trouble overseas. I mean, there was one woman in my class who had an associate's degree and was a travel agent before she joined the service, and now she is in Jerusalem. If you took a good range of political classes in college and take the time to read different publications and read the news, you'll be right up there with them.
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