Good News & Not So Good News
So the previously canceled May A-100 has been reinstated and calls have gone out. This has made a lot of people very happy and restored hope.
Meanwhile, my ranking has dropped. My new ranking of 40/196 is actually the bounce back after having fallen to an estimated nearly 50 while Congress sorted out the budget, during which delay more and more folks tested for high language bonus points and moved to the head of the line.
There's faith now that there will be July and September classes. One of the forums on State's site did mention a November class, but for some reason that was never listed on the A-100 board. It seems to be a given that the September class could be the last one of the year.
At one point, I held out hope of getting the call for the September class. Now I think it unlikely. The tops of the registers are crowded with high-scorers -- from 5.7s up to 6+. In some cases they take up as many as the first 30 places. It will take a while to pare this down. Also, some of the Pickering and Rangel Fellows, as well as others who were perhaps finishing up degrees will be coming off the Do-Not-Call (DNC) list and become available for training. All that pushes my humble 5.57 further down the list.
How's my Turkish coming along? Slowly. I'm enjoying the language, but it's hard to stay motivated, when I know that next year's budget is not only up in the air, but the likely subject of another contentious debate, one that could end up with State severely restricting its hiring.
I guess I'm praying for a miracle. I never would've thought that a 5.57 would be just shy of good enough when I started this journey, but that's how it's turned out. Wow ...
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Meanwhile, my ranking has dropped. My new ranking of 40/196 is actually the bounce back after having fallen to an estimated nearly 50 while Congress sorted out the budget, during which delay more and more folks tested for high language bonus points and moved to the head of the line.
There's faith now that there will be July and September classes. One of the forums on State's site did mention a November class, but for some reason that was never listed on the A-100 board. It seems to be a given that the September class could be the last one of the year.
At one point, I held out hope of getting the call for the September class. Now I think it unlikely. The tops of the registers are crowded with high-scorers -- from 5.7s up to 6+. In some cases they take up as many as the first 30 places. It will take a while to pare this down. Also, some of the Pickering and Rangel Fellows, as well as others who were perhaps finishing up degrees will be coming off the Do-Not-Call (DNC) list and become available for training. All that pushes my humble 5.57 further down the list.
How's my Turkish coming along? Slowly. I'm enjoying the language, but it's hard to stay motivated, when I know that next year's budget is not only up in the air, but the likely subject of another contentious debate, one that could end up with State severely restricting its hiring.
I guess I'm praying for a miracle. I never would've thought that a 5.57 would be just shy of good enough when I started this journey, but that's how it's turned out. Wow ...
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