For most Americans, an understanding of international affairs and global conflict is limited to news reports and press releases. For students on the Hope Ranch campus, the administration has brought foreign affairs a little closer to home through the second annual Global Studies Day Symposium.
“I think that our whole school ought to have a global studies focus because we need to prepare students to be global citizens. There’s a whole world out there beyond Santa Barbara and you need to be aware of it. It’s our job to make students want to participate in our form of government,” said history teacher Ms. Martha Elliott.
While last year’s event focused on genocide and conflict in Darfur, this year’s symposium narrowed in on American diplomacy and the significance of work done in the field of Foreign Service.
The symposium kicked off with a live Skype session with Ms. Susan Elliott, the American ambassador to Tajikistan, who formerly held the position of Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary responsible for Central Asia from 2010 – 2012. In previous years, she also served as the Deputy Chief of Mission to Moscow, Russia and as Counsel General to Northern Ireland. As she shared details surrounding her career and past experiences, Ms. Elliott
Following a series of questions led by the students, Mr. Abraham Tall, a junior at Cate School, stepped up to the podium to launch the second segment of the symposium, during which he shared his experiences as the son of parents who are involved in the Foreign Service.
Mr. Geoffrey H. Walser ’62 then took the stage and discussed his career as a Foreign Service Officer in the US and Foreign Commercial Service (USFCS) for the past 19 years. As someone who has worked in the trade industry as a senior commercial officer for the U.S. Embassy in Singapore, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia, Mr. Walser was able to expand upon the importance of strong global relations in terms of keeping the economy afloat.
Ambassador John Ordway closed with his reflections on his position as a retired Foreign Service Officer who served as Ambassador to Kazakhstan and to Armenia. But in all of his travels, Ambassador Ordway made it very clear that regardless of where one is, one must always remember that he or she is representing America.
“You need to understand what America is. Even if your body is in another country, your heart and your mind and your head have to be firmly in America,” he said.
“I just never thought about being an ambassador as a career opportunity or a path to take, so hearing all of these representatives speak just informed me more about it,” said junior Lindsay Ligon.
At the end of the day, several students emerged not only with a better understanding of the impact they can have on the global community through foreign service, but also with the motivation to potentially pursue a career as a diplomat or ambassador.
“With all the news about the atrocities taking place around the world, my dreams of being a hermeneutic for the truly voiceless often seem unrealistic and naive. However, our look into the careers of U.S. ambassadors gave me new hope about the impact one person can have on bettering the lives of people all around the world,” said junior Erica Keane.
While the Global Studies Symposium is only a one-day event, the impact it has on the students is lasting and contributes to the school’s mission to raise global awareness and expand upon the students’ understanding of the international community.