The black hole of recommendation forms
I think the thing I hate most about filling out recommendation forms and writing recommendation letters is that I seldom hear what happens. For the last several years, a few students each year have asked me for recommendations for various honors: scholarships or student jobs, usually. And almost none of them has ever written me back to tell me what happened. The funny thing is that even sites that describe the etiquette involved in requesting one of these things don't suggest that the requester report on the results.But I can't help it. I want to know. I'd at least like the students who request a favor like that not to forget me. LOL And I'm learning a lesson here myself: I have to tell the people who've recommended me in the past that my own job is going just fine. And thank them again.
A bit of history: five years ago, I worked with a group called the Weather Boys in one of my Rhetoric classes. (They got the idea for their team name from watching the film October Sky.) These kids, over the course of two semesters, performed the heroic feat of supplying Ewing's Antheil Elementary School with a weather station. They convinced the Antheil Parent-Teacher Organization to donate $1000 for the purchase of the station, the rain gauge of which is pictured here. They installed the station. They prepared the software so Antheil's computers could receive data. And they did the groundwork for Antheil's weather feed to be supplied to TCNJ's Web site.
All this work is now pretty much unknown except to the Weather Boys, myself, and a couple of Antheil staff members. This is because in the summer of 2003, Ewing schools put up a new firewall which prevented the weather station from sending data inside the building 20 feet away. And nobody would do anything about it. That situation still rankles me, years later.
But I digress. I brought this up because Matt Ledyard of the Weather Boys came along this week seeking a recommendation letter, as...
I am on the homestretch here at TCNJ, and upon graduation I hope to continue my service with the Air Force by becoming a pilot. Within the next few weeks I will be sending off application packets to various Air National Guard units across the United States. My top choice would be to fly fighter jets, specifically the F-15, F-16 or A-10 airframe.This note came along just as I was beginning to get the annual spring rush of recommendation requests, and was most discouraged about them. Now I have to rethink my discouragement, because Matt is such a super guy. I see him as one of my greatest success stories.
Matt's the reason I'm posting this. I think my recommendation for a good young person is one of the best gifts I can give, and it really is flattering to be asked. It suggests that at least one person gives a shit about what I think. LOL
Labels: education, history, rhetoric, young entrepreneurs
posted by Ron @ 5:13 PM
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