Politics

/

ArcaMax

Commentary: Why do I write college recommendation letters for students? It's very simple

Adam Patric Miller, Chicago Tribune on

Published in Op Eds

It’s the time of year when students arrive at my office and ask if I will write them a college recommendation. I say, “Yes, I’ll be happy to write one for you.” Sometimes, I’ll thank them for asking in person.

There used to be more time to write recommendations. Students have to play every angle to get into a college of their choosing, so many apply early. That used to mean the recommendation needed to be done by Nov. 1. Some colleges these days — to beat the rush or get a jump on other schools or for some other calculated reason — set a date of Oct. 15. I completed one of those for a student applying to the University of Chicago and hit send. I spent the rest of the day getting the electronic parts of the others I must write ready to go. It’s all online.

It’s what teachers do. I’ve written hundreds and hundreds of college recommendations. My favorite college recommendation story goes back to the start of my career at a city school. A more experienced English teacher said he would write a recommendation for one of our top students. In a school with a dropout rate of 50%, it was wonderful to meet a student who was so smart and respectful and who, despite the failure of his school system and the lack of the safety net one might see for kids in suburban or private schools, might make it to get his degree, the first in his family to do so.

The English teacher handed the student, Ian, his recommendation. It read: “To Whom It May Concern: Ian doesn’t suck.” The two of them enjoyed the joke. The English teacher dug out the real recommendation from his briefcase.

One of the first recommendations I wrote was for a student who entered my class after escaping war in Eritrea. Writing for her, I felt I had better bring to the fore the advantages I’d experienced with my education. I don’t know if my recommendation did much for her — she was unstoppable academically because she had no choice. She returned years later to proudly tell me she earned her degree and was pretty sure her salary for her first job paid her a yearly amount higher than mine. We shared a chuckle at that. It was what teachers call in this game a professional highlight.

When I switched to teaching in a suburban school after a move to Ohio, the number of recommendations I wrote greatly increased. Teaching in the city school was brutal in ways, but teaching the children of parents who had planned their son’s acceptance to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from the time he was in third grade, that was its own brutality. Writing 30-plus recommendations over a month or two stretched me very thin. Weekends disappeared.

As I teach now in a St. Louis suburb, it’s more of the same. Teachers receive nothing for writing recommendations — it adds 30 or 40 hours of writing to our normal work, if you aren’t wholesale cutting and pasting from old recommendations, but the salary doesn’t budge. I remember a principal or a guidance counselor asking the faculty to recognize the recommendation writers. There was applause. One year, the guidance office passed out merchandise from colleges: You could grab a coffee mug or a key chain or a scarf.

Even though I know American education is rigged and that my suburban students have so many advantages, I write for them. Teachers care for their students and hope for the best for their futures. That transcends any teaching environment.

 

Students will thank you. I’ll read the thank you note, then stuff it with the rest into my desk drawer. Every once in a while, a thank you note will pop out the back of the drawer. I’ll see it on the floor, pick it up and read again about what my teaching meant to a student.

I’ll remember these students, how one drew a cup of tea on her quizzes, how one started her essay with the phrase, “Consider the beehive,” or how the only poet I ever taught left a weary world too soon.

And I’ll hope that, if my students remember me some day, they’ll think: Mr. Miller didn’t suck.

____

Adam Patric Miller has taught high school for 25 years in three states and currently teaches in St. Louis. He is the author of the book “A Greater Monster.”

____


©2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

 

Related Channels

ACLU

ACLU

By The ACLU
Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman

By Amy Goodman
Armstrong Williams

Armstrong Williams

By Armstrong Williams
Austin Bay

Austin Bay

By Austin Bay
Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro

By Ben Shapiro
Betsy McCaughey

Betsy McCaughey

By Betsy McCaughey
Bill Press

Bill Press

By Bill Press
Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

By Bonnie Jean Feldkamp
Cal Thomas

Cal Thomas

By Cal Thomas
Christine Flowers

Christine Flowers

By Christine Flowers
Clarence Page

Clarence Page

By Clarence Page
Danny Tyree

Danny Tyree

By Danny Tyree
David Harsanyi

David Harsanyi

By David Harsanyi
Debra Saunders

Debra Saunders

By Debra Saunders
Dennis Prager

Dennis Prager

By Dennis Prager
Dick Polman

Dick Polman

By Dick Polman
Erick Erickson

Erick Erickson

By Erick Erickson
Froma Harrop

Froma Harrop

By Froma Harrop
Jacob Sullum

Jacob Sullum

By Jacob Sullum
Jamie Stiehm

Jamie Stiehm

By Jamie Stiehm
Jeff Robbins

Jeff Robbins

By Jeff Robbins
Jessica Johnson

Jessica Johnson

By Jessica Johnson
Jim Hightower

Jim Hightower

By Jim Hightower
Joe Conason

Joe Conason

By Joe Conason
Joe Guzzardi

Joe Guzzardi

By Joe Guzzardi
John Micek

John Micek

By John Micek
John Stossel

John Stossel

By John Stossel
Josh Hammer

Josh Hammer

By Josh Hammer
Judge Andrew Napolitano

Judge Andrew Napolitano

By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
Laura Hollis

Laura Hollis

By Laura Hollis
Marc Munroe Dion

Marc Munroe Dion

By Marc Munroe Dion
Michael Barone

Michael Barone

By Michael Barone
Michael Reagan

Michael Reagan

By Michael Reagan
Mona Charen

Mona Charen

By Mona Charen
Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

By Oliver North and David L. Goetsch
R. Emmett Tyrrell

R. Emmett Tyrrell

By R. Emmett Tyrrell
Rachel Marsden

Rachel Marsden

By Rachel Marsden
Rich Lowry

Rich Lowry

By Rich Lowry
Robert B. Reich

Robert B. Reich

By Robert B. Reich
Ruben Navarrett Jr

Ruben Navarrett Jr

By Ruben Navarrett Jr.
Ruth Marcus

Ruth Marcus

By Ruth Marcus
S.E. Cupp

S.E. Cupp

By S.E. Cupp
Salena Zito

Salena Zito

By Salena Zito
Star Parker

Star Parker

By Star Parker
Stephen Moore

Stephen Moore

By Stephen Moore
Susan Estrich

Susan Estrich

By Susan Estrich
Ted Rall

Ted Rall

By Ted Rall
Terence P. Jeffrey

Terence P. Jeffrey

By Terence P. Jeffrey
Tim Graham

Tim Graham

By Tim Graham
Tom Purcell

Tom Purcell

By Tom Purcell
Veronique de Rugy

Veronique de Rugy

By Veronique de Rugy
Victor Joecks

Victor Joecks

By Victor Joecks
Wayne Allyn Root

Wayne Allyn Root

By Wayne Allyn Root

Comics

Ed Gamble Adam Zyglis Al Goodwyn Joey Weatherford Dana Summers Lisa Benson