Foreign Service career a boon to St. Charles grad
In Sunday's column, we touched on work St. Charles High School graduate Mike Newbill performed as chief of the political and economic sector of the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai, India, during the terrorist attacks there last month.
But how did Newbill - a 1990 St. Charles High graduate (not 1997, as I mistakenly reported Sunday) and 1994 University of Illinois graduate - get in the Foreign Service, which aids Americans in foreign countries and educates residents of those countries about American policies?
After securing a scholarship to study in India and then earning his master's degree, Newbill landed a state department internship.
"I wasn't even aware such a thing existed," Newbill said. "I went to work in the U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka for a year."
Newbill said he had two "incredible bosses" who taught him about the Foreign Service.
"I was very interested, but I had a 'Peace Corps' mentality and just thought there would be too many restrictions with the Foreign Service, and of course, that turned out to be not true."
Newbill worked on a project involving India for three years as part of a think tank in Washington, passed his Foreign Service exam and was sworn in.
He has worked in the Philippines for two years, Thailand for two years, in the State Department in Washington, D.C., for two years and has been in Mumbai for a year and a half.
"Mumbai is the financial capital of India and it's a combination of New York and Los Angeles because it has all of the banks and the largest film industry in the world in Bollywood," Newbill said. "It is a dynamic and exciting city, but it has 17 million people and its infrastructure is absolutely overloaded and there is a huge disparity between rich and poor."
Newbill feels the Foreign Service is a great profession, one that people should learn more about and consider in the future.
Dancer goes country: I had to rub my eyes to make sure it was true. Sure enough, the advertisement said Julianne Hough of "Dancing with the Stars" fame will be at Pheasant Run on Friday night.
But she'll be singing country music, along with other country stars. I'd rather see her dancing, but she's apparently passionate about her music career.
Local country music fans with tickets are sure to enjoy this weekend's Mega Winterfest and Country's Hottest Party at Pheasant Run.
One of the nice guys: I sure will miss Bill Wiebmer, a St. Charles resident and a friend in my service club for the past 18 years who passed away last week. I wrote about one of Bill's happier moments a couple of years ago when he went back to his high school in Quincy to be part of a 100-year basketball reunion. Even though his bad back had him in terrible pain at the time, he was able to get on the basketball court for a couple of minutes of action in the reunion game.
Bill was one of the nicest fellows I have had the privilege of meeting since I came into this area 32 years ago as a young reporter.