Erin Moran became a Diplomatic Technology Officer after completing the FAIT Fellowship with the 2020 cohort. She is currently posted at the U.S. Consulate Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Tell us a little about yourself – where are you from, where did you go to college and what was your major?

I am originally from Queens, New York. I went to Pace University in New York City, where I majored in Information Technology.

What made you decide that you wanted to work in technology for the Foreign Service?

When I was in undergrad, I received a few scholarships to study abroad in Prague. One of these scholarships was from the Department of State: the Benjamin Gilman Scholarship. While I was in Prague, a public diplomacy officer invited all the Gilman scholarship recipients to the U.S. Embassy. He gave us a tour and told us about the career. I told him that I was interested in the Foreign Service, but I was pursuing a degree in IT. He told me there were IT jobs too.

Prior to studying abroad, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my career. It was this experience that solidified what I wanted to do with my life.

The semester that I returned from study abroad, I went to a Gilman Scholarship alumni conference in New York City. At this conference there was a flyer for the FAIT Fellowship. The other alumni at the conference said that this is the perfect Fellowship for me, and they encouraged me to apply. The rest is history.

What impact has the FAIT Fellowship had on your life, personally or professionally?

The FAIT Fellowship made it possible for me to afford university. I went to a community college for two years to save money, but I was worried about how I was going to pay for my last two years of undergrad.  The FAIT Fellowship allowed me to graduate debt free! I was also worried about finding a job after graduation. But being awarded the FAIT Fellowship alleviated my worries.

After you completed the fellowship program, you went to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI). Can you tell us a little about your training there and how it helped you when you went to your first post?

At FSI, we took Diplomatic Technology tradecraft courses. These were classes about SharePoint, management, Diplomatic Technology operations, radios, etc. I really enjoyed the management courses, and they were very helpful at post. The radio classes were great too and were helpful for a radio project I had at post.

As this is your first post as a DTO, can you share how you felt when you first arrived? Were you nervous?

I was definitely nervous. I heard it was a small post and I was worried about drinking from the fire hose. On my first day at post, the Diplomatic Technology team took me out for lunch and boba tea. I remember them telling me that they knew I was on my first tour and that I may be nervous, but to relax because they had my back. I am very fortunate to have a supportive team at post.

What is your most memorable or rewarding experience as a DTO?

One of my most rewarding experiences was volunteering for the Independence Day party. The Consul General wanted to plan the first Independence Day party with no plastic. I was the chair of the decorations committee, and I worked closely with the Front Office and other committees on this initiative.

My team had to get really creative with the decorations. We used flowers and fruits as centerpieces. Finding non-plastic backdrops and decorations was a challenge. So, we came up with the solution of using digital backdrops and slideshows. We also made a backdrop out of wood and put the anti-plastic pollution posters we designed on them.

Seeing everyone come together on the day of the event and making this a reality was incredibly rewarding.

Tell us about the Foreign Service lifestyle – what are the pros and cons?

Life in the Foreign Service comes with both benefits and challenges. You get the chance to live in amazing places around the world. You get to work with talented and knowledgeable locally employed staff. You don’t pay for housing. And no two posts are alike, so you will never get bored because there is always something new to learn. Some drawbacks are your first two tours are directed and you get very little say in where you go. And Diplomatic Technology has their own duty roster, meaning that you can’t be away from post, and need to respond quickly in case anything happens after hours. If you are at a small post, that means you are on duty often and can’t travel.

What are your future aspirations?

I would like to get my master’s degree; that has always been a personal goal of mine. I would also like to take an out of cone consular tour to develop my language skills and see what the consular customers need from Diplomatic Technology.

Do you have any advice for those thinking about applying for the FAIT Fellowship?

Don’t overthink it, just apply. I almost didn’t submit my application because I didn’t believe I would get it.