Esteemed alumna lauds language

Foreign Service Officer and alumna Jennifer Mergy returned to CSM Wednesday, Feb. 22 to speak to students about the importance of learning foreign languages. Mergy, 42, works for the State Department under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. As part of the Hometown Diplomats program, initiated by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Mergy visited Carlmont High School in Belmont and CSM, her former schools, to tell students learning foreign languages can translate to an important and rewarding career.

In front of an audience of faculty and students at the Foreign Language Center, Mergy discussed the significance of her learning French at CSM. Studying French, which "helped me to think in another language," paved the way to her career in diplomacy which requires her to speak several languages, she said.

Mergy earned an associate's degree in French from CSM in 1984, and also received the prestigious Rotary Scholarship."There was a big moment: I was at this community college and I could win this important scholarship. I was really excited, and things went well. [CSM] was a good foundation and supportive environment," said Mergy.

After winning the scholarship, Mergy studied abroad, earning bachelor's degrees in French and international relations and a master's in East European Studies. She then moved to Budapest where she worked as an English editor for a banking corporation. In 2002, Mergy pursued her interest in diplomacy and joined the Foreign Service Office.

Today she works in Amman, Jordan, serving Americans and dual citizens of Jordan and the U.S.

Her duties include adjudicating (making formal judgments on) visas, and protecting against fraud by authenticating documents.

"We do diplomatic visas, immigrant visas, and non-immigrant visas, and I serve all of the American citizens living in Jordan," said Mergy. "There are about 9,500 U.S. citizens in Jordan."

She speaks Arabic, English, French and Hungarian, and has met and worked with world leaders such as Powell, Rice and Djibouti president Ismail Umar Guelleh.

The student audience responded positively. "I think this presentation was motivational. It's the idea of what impact one can have globally just with what one studies," said Will Herrera, 24.