Matt Stinson, A’25
This past month, ALLIES had the pleasure of welcoming retired Ambassador Mark Storella to dinner with the organization’s executive board and to give a talk to the Tufts community about working in the U.S. Foreign Service. Amb. Storella is a Fletcher alumnus and the former U.S. ambassador to Zambia, thus providing enthused students with a first-hand experience of life in the Foreign Service and the responsibilities of an ambassador.
At the dinner, ALLIES executive board members had the opportunity to discuss the greatest existential threats to our generation and how we can work toward lasting stability as students and innovators. Amb. Storella provided a helpful thought experiment in dealing with complex and seemingly unsolvable problems, highlighting a fraction of the difficulty of his job as an ambassador.
After the dinner, Amb. Storella accompanied the students to Braker Hall, where he gave a fascinating talk on his life in the Foreign Service. He touched on his experiences balancing the interests of opposing factions and meeting famed politicians like Hillary Clinton. After finishing his talk, he invited students to ask questions and left the students with advice to read the newspaper every day and stay informed!
Ultimately, the experience was enjoyable and educational and greatly benefitted everyone who attended.