Two Foreign Service bloggers are currently in the running for the op-ed category in BlogHer’s Voices of the Year initiative.

One is Donna S. Gorman of Email From The Embassy for her piece from September 13, 2013 simple titled, Here in Jordan.  “I wrote this post after an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi left 4 Americans dead, including our Ambassador to Libya. I wanted to give a voice to those who died that night, so that Americans back home would understand the enormity of the sacrifice our diplomats – my friends, colleagues and loved ones – make on their behalf every day.” Excerpt below:

It was a scary, scary night, followed by many sad and scary days after the incident was over. It ended with blood spilled, and cars crashed, and magazines emptied. It ended with us being evacuated from post, not sure if we’d ever be allowed back. It ended with me finally truly understanding what kind of life we were living, when everything can change without a moment’s notice, when the people you love are out there, somewhere, doing things you can only imagine, to stop the bad guys from hurting the good guys. It ended with me realizing that my husband could have died, could still, at any time, die, because of the work he does, because he chooses to run into situations from which other people run away.

Continue reading, Here in Jordan. 

If you want to vote for Donna, click here: http://www.blogher.com/here-jordan-0 .

The other blogger is Jen Dinoia of  The Dinoia Family for her piece on May 16, 2012 titled, Wanted: Stories of the ‘Real’ Foreign Service. This is that blog post about her blog not being FS enough (remember nipplegate?): “I was asked to be on an official Department of State blog roll three years ago.  Last year, I was unceremoniously bumped off and learned it was because I discussed my experience with breast cancer (reconstruction, actually) in too much detail and it was not relevant to FS life.  The blog post is my rebuttal and opinion on why I feel it is extremely relevant.”  Excerpt below:

Sunday evening, when I noticed the blog missing, I wrote to the online specialist who had contacted me way back when.  The next day I heard from a new community specialist.  I was told in no uncertain terms that my blog does not have “content relevant to the U.S. Foreign Service”.  When I replied back with a description of the content that is more than related, I received a response from yet another new person.  The response from that person?

Hopefully, you can understand that some topics covered in your blog are very personal in nature, e.g. nipple cozies, and wouldn’t necessarily resonate with the majority of potential candidates who are interested in learning about the FS life overseas. Through our years of recruitment experience, we found that FS prospects want to learn more about the work that’s conducted, the people and cultures with whom they will interact, the travel experiences, and the individual stories our employees* have to share.  

Read her full post here.

If you want to vote for Jen, click here: http://www.blogher.com/wanted-stories-real-foreign-service

You must be logged in to vote for either one. You can also vote by signing in using FB, Twitter, Google, WordPress, Blogger and LiveJournal.

Good luck! ¡Buena suerte! Buona fortuna!

— DS

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