. >> bonnie: mary vargas was a pickering fellow. the daughter of immigrants vargas grew up in a tough neighborhood in east l.a. >> mary vargas: i was very curious about the world early on. and when i started high school, i had an excellent european history teacher and world history teacher, and she told me about model united nations. >> bonnie: vargas was encouraged to apply to george washington university's school of international affairs. she was accepted through the women in leadership program which helped pay for her first two years of school. >> mary vargas: my second year i was a little bit concerned about my financial situation in college, and my parents weren't able to support me and gw is a private school, so i started looking at the pickering fellowship. >> bonnie: vargas is a six-year veteran of the foreign service. she's served in mexico, pakistan and iraq. she met her husband in the service and together they're serving connect in israel. >> mary vargas: i met clay in tijuana. we were both first tour officers there and,