Meet J. T. Ice, 2003 Alum

John “J. T.” Ice graduated from Patterson in December 2004 and began working as a Foreign Service Officer (FSO) at the State Department. As an FSO, his career has included diplomatic postings to Afghanistan, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Kabul, Malawi, Senegal, and Turkey. Currently, Ice is attending the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island where he is a senior student in the College of Naval Warfare’s National Security and Strategic Studies Program.

Ice always had a strong desire to serve his country and his fellow Kentuckians. That desire, along with his experiences at the Patterson School, is what led him to pursue a career with the State Department after graduation. “This was in so many ways my dream job and I got it. Who could ask for more?” In the near term, he will be moving abroad for a rotation at U.S. embassy Nouakchott, Mauritania, where he will serve as Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM). As the DCM, he will be the second-in-command to the chief of mission (usually an ambassador). He will serve as the key advisor to the chief of mission and will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the post and overseeing the heads of sections at the embassy (political, economic, public affairs, management, and consular).

Ice’s long-term goal is to stay within the Foreign Service and the State Department and to one day become an Ambassador. He has a very strong interest in international relations, and after he retires, would love to return to Kentucky where he can help fellow Kentuckians to better understand the issues at the State Department, why this is important to them, why they should take an interest in it, and why their voice is important in the national discussion about these issues.

The Patterson School stood out to him as a program where he could immerse himself in an environment where he was going to be working and speaking with colleagues and academics that were going to help him get to a point where he could go into the world of foreign service. He credits faculty at the Patterson School for helping find a role on the international stage in international affairs and foreign policy. “Patterson really opened that door for me. I might have been able to do it without Patterson. I KNOW I was able to do it with Patterson.”

When asked what advice you have for current and incoming Patterson students, Ice offered two important pieces of advice:

1. “When you are at the Patterson stage it is important to be very mindful of casting a wide net. What I mean by that is, you are at a stage where you should be learning and actively searching for anything and everything that you can, exposure to as many different things as you can. The only danger is if you start to think you are only going to be a success if you get to such and such job in agency X, or that you are only going to be a success if you get to go do a particular job. The real secret to happiness and success is keeping an open mind about what opportunities come and what opportunities you seek. It is okay to have your focus (what you want to do that you are shooting for), but don’t become so focused that you shut yourself off to the world of opportunity that is out there; be open to those possibilities.”
2. “Do the job that is in front of you. If the job that comes up for you is job C, rather than job A, it is not the end of the world. It is only the end of the world if you make it. My advice is, do the job that is presented, that’s in front of you. Be the very best that you can because what will happen is, your success in that will put you closer to where you want to be. Whereas if you shut down, you are no closer to where you wanted to be and you probably even put yourself further from where you wanted to be. Do the job infant of you, maybe it’s not exactly what you wanted to do or what you were shooting for but doing it and doing it very well, it will lead you to places you never thought you would go, or lead you to happiness that you never thought you would have. It will set you up for that next best thing that you are doing. Whereas going into the job that you didn’t want, with negativity, will shut all that down. I’ve seen it happen for people and it is a real tragedy.”