More than just a student
Photo
provided by Todd Ricketts
Fresno State political
science major Todd Ricketts with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. |
By Jenna Nielsen
The Collegian
You won’t meet someone
like him everyday. He’s been to 20 countries, protected classified
information for the United States government and met influential political
leaders. He’s done more in 26 years than most people have done in
their lifetime.
Senior Todd Ricketts, a political science major with a minor in criminology,
is in his last semester at Fresno State and early next year, he will begin
working as special agent for the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service. It
is an elite program where agents work at U.S. embassies and consulates
abroad.
Ricketts knew he wanted to join the diplomatic security service when he
served as a Marine Security Guard where diplomatic security agents were
his immediate supervisors.
“One thing that really interested me in the program was not only
the opportunity to travel, but the exposure to diplomacy,” Ricketts
said.
After high school, Ricketts decided to join the Marine Corps because he
wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted to do in college.
“I wanted something different,” he said. “I knew eventually
I would go to college, but I just wanted to make sure I had something
to go for.”
From 1996 to 1999, Ricketts worked as an administrative clerk in Camp
Pendleton, Ca. It was there he volunteered for the Marine Security Guard
Program.
“Not many people know about the program, not even in the Marine
Corps,” Ricketts said. The program is difficult to get into because
a Marine has to be recommended and then a recruiting team comes for an
interview, he said.
His first post in the program was in Vladivostok, Russia.
“It was the best year of my life,” he said. “It was
my first time being overseas and my first time experiencing another culture.”
Ricketts said there were only 20 Americans at the consulate so he was
really exposed to the culture of Russia.
An obstacle he faced was running into the Russian mafia on a regular basis.
Once on the way home from a night out, Ricketts and some of his fellow
guards were attacked by some members of the mafia.
“The experience was surreal,” he said. “One of my friends
was shot and it took 21 surgeries and eight months for him to recover.”
Ricketts said it was a very pivotal moment in his life and the shooting
and legal proceedings that followed really affected him. “In a sense,
I lost my naivete,” he said.
From January 2001 to September 2002, Ricketts served his second post in
Brussels, Belgium. There, he handled internal security and the protection
of classified information. He worked in what was called a tri-mission
that included the U.S. Embassy, the U.S. Mission to the European Union
and the U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“I basically fell in love with international travel,” Ricketts
said. “And I gained an appreciation for international relations
and wanted to be a part of the process. It was when I was working with
diplomatic security that I realized what I wanted to do.”
In October 2002, Ricketts came back to California and started school at
Fresno State in January 2003. He will have graduated in three years.
“I owe my success to the discipline and ambition I learned in the
Marine Corp,” he said.
To gain a competitive edge, Ricketts just completed a summer internship
for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security
in Washington, D.C.
“My office was basically in charge of what we call high-threat protection.”
He said. “We oversaw security contracts for Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti,
Bosnia and Israel.”
While interning, he had an interview for the Diplomatic Security Service.
An open announcement is placed for a week during which an applicant has
to take an online assessment. If passed, applicants may be called back
for an interview depending on how high their score was.
Out of those who were called back for an interview , Ricketts ranked 9
out of 458. Only 120 agents will be hired for the 2006 fiscal year .
“I knew I would be called back,” Ricketts said. “It
was just a matter of when.”
Now he must pass a background investigation and a physical.
“I could be at any consulate or embassy in the world,” he
said. “I really don’t know exactly where I want to go, but
I will be happy anywhere.”
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