DC Part III

Last Tuesday I came out of a meeting to discover unexpected voicemails on both my office and cell phone. It suddenly became imperative to find my supervisor. I had ten frantic minutes of preparation before informing her my days working at the university are numbered. Numbered with a big number, like 75 to 175 days, possibly more. I managed to catch her before she listened to the voicemail message she received - success.

Happened faster than I expected. I did not anticipate mentioning anything until late May or early June. Now that both my supervisor and boss are advised of the situation I can share without chance of the news surprising anyone it shouldn't. The remaining issue being that nothing is yet certain - formal approvals, budget constraints - all things that could significantly delay or prevent my departure from the university.

The good news:

I passed my oral assessment for the U.S. Department of State. Which means I have a "conditional" offer of employment with the foreign service.

My security clearance interview was last week. I know a few of you readers had interviews with various Diplomatic Security personnel. My medical forms are in. I passed the additional certification test I needed to pass on Wednesday. At this point I just wait, and wait, and wait some more. My score is fairly solid. I will brag that I did score higher than diplomat C, but it wasn't exactly the same OA, so we'll say his was harder. My good friend J who took the OA for the same position thinks he scored a 10 - the scoring system must have changed since right now it is out of 7 points and you must score a 5.25 in order to pass.

Needless to say, Friday, March 15th I was quite a mess. The commencement of this DC trip was quiet tense. Testing started at 7am EST. A rough start time for a California girl who flew in the night before. The oral assessment consisted of a 45 min online skills assessment test. Followed by a 45 min written case management section. Then I had a 60 min interview which had three distinct sections of its own. At the end, after an excruciating wait, they call you back into the interview room and tell you if you've passed or failed.

When I walked into the room and began to sit down the lead questioner stopped me, "They are not even going to let me sit down?" I thought for a moment they were going to tell me I failed and send me directly on my way. Instead there was a flood of relief.

After exiting the building I walked the National Mall in a daze. It took several hours for the shock to wear off. This changes almost everything about my life. It is fantastic and frightening.

Reminding myself it is not yet official keeping me sane. I still have time. That, and the fact that I have a masters program to finish this month. Which may not be making me more sane, but is completely distracting.

There isn't much more to do, the boss has been informed, hoops have all been jumped. Life may look quite different by summer's end.