not quite one in a million, but pretty close

This blog has not been getting much love this new year!

I can't blame being sick anymore since I've actually been feeling better... recently (for which I am soooo thankful). I haven't thrown up for four days! FOUR DAYS! I haven't had a streak this long since it all started mid-October. Woohoo.

I'm still sleeping terribly, but let's focus on the positive.

Speaking of positives, Peter wrote an important test last week on which is promotion to the next level of the foreign service is based. Normally this exam is written after three year, but they have the option to sit for it after 18 months, which is what Peter chose to do.

And he passed!

While it's not unheard of for foreign service officers to pass the exam after 18 months, it's also not terribly usual. Just like it's not unheard of for FS officers to receive an overseas post after only one year in Ottawa, but it's really not very common (the norm being three years at headquarters before posting abroad). And while most new hires to the foreign service pass their second language requirement (French in Peter's case), few manage to get three E's (top marks) in all categories... his teacher even cried when he told her. And have I ever mentioned here that, of the over 12,000 people who wrote the Foreign Service exam the same year as Peter, he was one of only about 125 applicants chosen?

All that to say that I'm really proud of him.

And he's almost infuriatingly humble about it all! 

Let's review...

- when he wrote the exam, they hired about 1% of applicants and he was one of them,

- of those 1%, some likely already had their second language proficients, of those who had to complete language training, only a small handful would've scored perfect on all three exams,

- I don't have actual numbers, but I'd hazard a guess that less than a dozen of those were awarded an overseas post after only one year at headquarters,

- and... AND... he passed his FS2 exam!

HE'S AWESOME.

And I thought you should all know.