Five-Year Updates: Meet Jessica Farmer, F09

Continuing to feature alumni who, last May, marked five years since their graduation, today we meet Jessica Farmer F09.  Jessica pays tribute to Prof. Alan Wachman, who was himself a Fletcher grad and whose presence at Fletcher is still missed.

I went to Asia on a backpacking trip with college friends in the early 2000s and was absolutely hooked.  The noise, the bustle, the food — there was something electric about this part of the world.  I decided if I was going to come back long-term, I had to pick a country where learning the language would make sense for my career.  I chose China, and spent a year living in a small village in Hunan.

From this time forward, for me, China’s rise was up close and personal.  My village was eventually bulldozed to make way for a high-speed train station.  I came to Fletcher to help put it all in context, to understand a bit of the history of this place, to read, to think, to reflect.  I had the distinct honor to study under the late Alan Wachman, who I believe was one of the best minds of his generation on Northeast Asia issues.  I try, and usually fail, to emulate his meticulous attention to detail, to listen for what is not said but implied.  As a Foreign Service Officer with the State Department, posted first to Beijing and now Tokyo, his guidance continues to edify me daily.  For his tutelage and for Fletcher, I shall always be grateful.