Foreign Diplomacy students at the CTE Center have spent the past month learning about the State Department, including how it works, the purposes, and its role globally. The students largely focused on embassies, and in their latest project, they stepped into the shoes of the embassy officials they’d been learning about.

“The students were tasked with creating a video that would detail what a day in the life of different US foreign service operatives are like,” Foreign Diplomacy teacher Ben Ewald said. “The project encourages creative thought in presenting possible career options.”

The students’ positions were randomly assigned, and the options greatly varied, ranging from Diplomatic Couriers to Ambassadors. 

“I was a US Mission Aid Director,” Lebanon Trail senior Vasudha Thittai said. “There really wasn’t a lot of information about Mission Aid Officers, and the most difficult part was actually finding the information for my video.”

While some students faced difficulties in researching the project, others felt that creating the video itself posed a greater challenge.

“I went out and recorded my video with a partner, and we tried to add some comedy in there to make sure it wasn’t monotonous,” Memorial senior Ian McDonald said. “The hardest part was getting a 30 second clip in one take without laughing.”

Although students faced different obstacles, Ewald feels that the interactive aspect of the project is beneficial to the class.

“[The project] also allows students the freedom to present the information in a fun way,” Ewald said. ”I could tell students the information, but interactive learning is just more entertaining.”

Some students, such as McDonald, preferred getting to create a video over having to complete a traditional project, like a presentation.

“With this project, you can edit the video and also, you can make it into anything you want,” McDonald said. “For a presentation, you’re just up there and if you mess up once everyone can see it.”