To: mdufresne@uconn.edu Subject: Recommendation for Jane C. Pierce Dear Professor DuFresne, I was hoping you would be willing to write me a letter of recommendation. My name is Jane Pierce, and I am a senior in the Journalism program. You taught my professional seminar in Fall 2009 and my autism research study during the Spring of 2010. You gave me an A- (for which I am very appreciative), and I would be most grateful if you could recommend me for a columnist position at the Journal Inquirer in Manchester. My application and a recommendation letter is due by February 1. You were the first person who came to mind for a recommendation because, really, no one knows me better on a professional and scholarly level. From my occasional late papers to my awkward reporting as a young, irresponsible sophomore, you were tough and strict and pushed me to be better in both writing and life. You refused to discount me as a slacker and, with your ever-present sense of humor, molded me into a real journalist and responsible person. You watched me grow, and I credit my success to your uncompromising standards and sky-high expectations. The position for which I'm vying is a daily column on fashion, both past and present. As I recall, I received much ribbing from you for my wacky sense of style, so I take it you remember my love for and relationship with fashion. I know that my concise, clear writing and the journalistic integrity you instilled in me combined with a fierce passion for color blocking and vintage lace will make for some entertaining and informative features. I travelled to New York with two other girls to complete a video feature for the 'Wretches and Jabberers” film premiere and meet-and-greet with the stars. Your guidance on that feature was greatly appreciated, and I hope that my intimate interaction with the main characters from the film and my artistic approach to the filming and video editing shows you just how involved I become in a feature story. Since you played such an instrumental role in my own growth as a journalist, I hope you will be able to communicate the professionalism I developed under your tutelage. Since appearances are also highly considered in this position, your commentary on my outfits will be completely appropriate to share and most welcome in this medium! The editor at the Journal Inquirer, Chris Powell, would like my application and a letter of recommendation on his desk no later than Feb. 1, so, ideally, it should be completed by Friday, January 25. If this sounds agreeable to you, I'll stop by your office hours this Tuesday with the recommendation form and pick it up from you as soon as it is completed. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. I also wanted to say how much I enjoyed your course. I can't express how much I've taken away from your lectures, and I know I'll use the things I learned in your course and apply them to the rest of my work. Your mentoring truly had a positive impact in my life and I can never thank you enough. Sincerely, Jane C. Pierce