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Photo by Reed Hutchinson UCLA
Photographic Services
Diplomat-in-Residence Don Terpstra hopes to recruit students
— and those looking to switch careers — into the
Foreign Service.
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ucla's diplomat-in-residence
Serving his country at home and abroad
BY WENDY SODERBURG
UCLA Today Staff
Perhaps you’ve never considered a career in the U.S. Department
of State, but one conversation with senior Foreign Service Officer
Don Terpstra could change your mind.
UCLA’s engaging diplomat-in-residence for 2003-04 —
who is also serving as a senior fellow in the School of Public Policy
and Social Research — is here representing the Department
of State in an effort to recruit candidates into the world of government
service. Through career fairs and information sessions, Terpstra
gives people a glimpse into the life of a Foreign Service officer.
“The State Department represents the United States to the
rest of the world,” he explained. “We maintain and operate
the network of embassies all around the world and promote American
policies and values, both bilateral and regional.”
At UCLA, Terpstra hopes to recruit candidates from all over campus,
and not just students. “Because the Foreign Service draws
from people of all backgrounds, I’m a resource for every school
and every department of this university,” Terpstra said. “It’s
a career for anybody and everybody.”
Terpstra himself started working for the Foreign Service at age
36, not unusual in a career that accepts junior officers at the
age of 54. His interest in international affairs began when he was
drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War, but was sent instead
to the Panama Canal Zone. He traveled as much as possible and fell
in love with Latin America.
After teaching social studies at a high school in Medellín,
Colombia, and working for five years at the Texas Historical Commission,
Terpstra, on a lark, took the Foreign Service exam for the second
time. (The first time he took the exam, right out of college, he
failed it.) This time he passed it, and he and his wife packed up
their things and moved to Uruguay.
Terpstra’s subsequent assignments took him to several potentially
dangerous places, including Peru, where the Sendero Luminoso (“Shining
Path”) terrorist organization was gaining power; Chile, at
the end of the Pinochet regime; Turkey, during a time of Kurdish
separatist and terrorist activity; and Bolivia, at the height of
the drug wars.
“Personally, I have not ever felt threatened in 20 years
overseas,” Terpstra said. “Very often I think foreigners
tend to separate Americans as individuals from the government, so
while they’re very critical of the government, they’re
very fond of Americans. That reflects a certain misunderstanding
of the way America works, because the government is the people.
So this is a subject that we take up in class when we discuss foreign
perceptions of America.”
As with all Foreign Service assignments, Terpstra bid on the opportunity
to come to Los Angeles. “It’s the best of all possible
assignments for me. As a Midwesterner, I’ve made fun of California
all my life,” he said. “Within my first week here, I
loved the place. It’s a colorful, dynamic, vibrant community,
full of cultural richness. It’s really all of America right
here.”
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