Dinner with Minister Firestein

Along with a few other students from the ASU Honors Program, I was privileged to have dinner with Minister Firestein yesterday. Fortunately, I was able to sit next to Minister Firestein, who was sitting next to Dr. Joseph Rallo, president of the university. Dr. Rallo, Minister Firestein, and I essentially dominated the conversation at the table, largely because I was one of two students interesting in becoming a Foreign Service Officer. I feel like I managed to be poised, sociable, and relaxed. There was a time in my life, fairly recently in fact, when I would have simply sat and listened, rather than taking an active role in the conversation. Now, I find that I am able to take advantage of situations like these when I have the chance to talk to people with such expertise. I believe I made an impression on him, since he remembered my name from the morning classroom session. I find that university life has been largely about expanding myself and becoming the person I want to be. In academia and politics, the ability to talk to people and network is absolutely vital. Perhaps, I am acquiring that particular skill.

On another note, I am further resolved than ever to pursue Peace Corps service. Minister Firestein commented that it was not only an incredibly valuable experience as a person, but an excellent path into the Foreign Service.

Foreign Minister Firestein

Minister Firestein is currently visiting my university in order to do a speaking engagement about his experiences as a diplomat in Russia and China, some dinners in his honor, etc. This morning, he visited my comparative political systems class, which combined with the diplomatic history class for this event, to speak and answer questions. I was able to deliver concise, well-thought questions, which I would have been to0 shy to do just a few years ago. Afterward, I talked to him about a conversation I had with my Russian friend in which we came to understand each other much more. I told him, "She and I are not particularly important people, but at the end of the conversation, we understood each other a lot more. That's why I'm interested in studying diplomacy. That dialogue is so important." He told me, "you should certainly look into becoming a Foreign Service Officer. I think you'd be a natural at it. The dialogue is the fun part," to which I replied, "I'm looking at taking the Foreign Service exam in July." I'm feeling competent and a little proud of myself at the moment. There was a time when I thought I was not cut out at all for Foreign Service, no matter how badly I wanted to be. The truth is, I am not the same person I was then. I am more confident, knowledgeable, and secure, and now I'm ready to pursue my interests fully and without regret.

Here we go stirring up trouble in a sleepy little town

San Angelo is a town with many wealthy individuals, and many, many poor ones. As with any other community, the wealthy have much more political clout than the poor, who often do not know where to turn for help. Blackshear, a poverty laden community in San Angelo with many housing projects, is trying to build itself up. A nearby steel company called Hirschfeld Steel has been making very loud noise late into the night and keeping people awake. The company has been asked to park its fleet on the side of its substantial piece of property furthest from the homes in order to reduce noise pollution. It has been asked repeatedly to build the fence it is required by city ordinance to have in order to reduce noise and caliche dust that makes some roads of the neighborhood practically impassible. These requests have been ignored. This company would not be behaving in such a manner were it located near country club estates, so it should not be allowed to behave this way near the projects. So, a local community organization, West Texas Organizing Strategies (WTOS), has decided to organize a petition drive in the area, and people like me, president of the ASU Young Democrats and student researcher for the Community Development Initiative (CDI) on campus, have been asked to participate. Always up for healthy civil uprising and improving downtrodden communities, the entire executive board of the Young Democrats and most of the CDI workers will be assisting.

Update: The petition drive was a wonderful experience. We met some amazing people, including a woman who had literally lived in the same house for seventy years! The point is, for years the city ignored this neighborhood, and it is finally being revitalized, rather than gentrified as happens in many cities. Livable homes are being fixed up, and unlivable ones are knocked down and replaced with low income rent-to-own housing. The neighborhood looks completely different than it did just a few years ago, thanks to several community organizations. Kudos to all the WTOS members and Young Democrats who joined in the struggle for the rights of San Angelo's poor today! Hopefully we'll be doing much more work together in the future.