How a Small Town Girl from Central Florida Got Into the CIA
When I speak to people about my career, one of the first questions I get is how a small town girl from Central Florida got into the CIA. I never dreamed of working for the CIA, and didn’t even know that was a real job. It was a path that I didn’t know I was on. But I was passionate about other cultures, so I found ways as a student to explore this interest. As an undergraduate, I participated in two mission trips to do volunteer work in Egypt, Russia and Ukraine. During the spring semester of my junior year of college, I traveled to Cairo for a study abroad program. We studied regional politics, culture, religion, and the Arabic language. We also spent three weeks traveling throughout Israel and Palestine studying the newly developing peace process.
After graduating college, my first job was working as an administrative assistant at a large humanitarian agency. It was an incredible organization, but I was a little embarrassed that I had only been hired to do secretarial work. Nevertheless, it enabled me to explore the wild and wacky world of Washington, D.C. In the government relations office, I learned how to conduct lobbying and advocacy activities on Capitol Hill and was exposed to the ins-and-outs of international relief and development work.
Still uncertain of what I would do in terms of a career, I continued feeding my passion for the Middle East by applying to a graduate program at Georgetown University. The School of Foreign Service has a well-respected Arab Studies program, so I spent two years there acquiring my master’s degree. When the CIA came to Georgetown and held an information session, I attended and then threw my resume into the pile of 007 hopefuls. Several weeks later I received a call from an agency recruiter. To make a long story short, I eventually made it through the long recruitment process and was hired to be an undercover officer in the CIA’s National Clandestine Service.
I believe strongly that I got into the CIA by following my interests (cultural understanding and human behavior) and becoming as knowledgeable as I could about the Middle East. I didn’t just study it from afar, but jumped at every opportunity to get to the region. By the time I got into the agency, I had traveled all over the Arab World, spending time in Egypt, Israel, the West Bank, Morocco, and Kuwait — in addition to visiting the United Kingdom, Russia and Ukraine. I was one of the most well-traveled recruits in my class.
Despite these efforts, one of the toughest challenges I faced was self-doubt regarding my ability to excel at the CIA. I had done well at everything I’d put my mind to, but this was the CIA…and that was quite intimidating for someone from such a sheltered background. In addition, because the CIA lacks diversity in operational and leadership roles, I doubted whether I had the personality and skill-set to do the job. Both human resources officers and field leadership commented that men were probably best suited to operational positions because of the tough male personalities we dealt with in the terrorism sector. I assumed they were right.
It took many years before I discovered that not only was I good enough, I was gifted at dealing with terrorist sources because of my extensive cultural knowledge. I figured out how to turn my disadvantage as a female into an advantage, and that was a very liberating realization. It was a turning point in my career as I had a surge of confidence and was finally recognized by my colleagues for this expertise. I had the people skills and street smarts to deal with complicated and intelligent terrorism sources. Instead of dismissing me because I was female, these conservative Muslim men ended up realizing that I knew exactly what I was talking about. And that’s what made all the difference. You can’t fake authenticity or expertise in the debriefing room.
All the years I spent studying, traveling, volunteering, reading, and learning paid off. It was not quick for me. It took time to get there. But I want to encourage you to be the best you can be — in whatever area you choose. Do the hard things. Get off the well-tread road. The more challenging the path you choose, the bigger the pay-off will be.
