recommended by doctors It's the kind of day where you just want to stay in bed all day and sleep. Cold, rainy, and wet. I don't want to learn about anesthesia. I don't want to learn about oxygen therapy. Learning to intubate was OK, but I would have still rather been snuggled up under my freshly laundered down comforter, reading my new David Sedaris book and napping between chapters. I dropped of my CV with Dr. L. today. Dr. L. was my preceptor on Medicine, and agreed to write me a letter of recommendation for my residency applications. It really wasn't a big deal to ask him, as pretty much all medicine preceptors expect that they will be hit up for letters by students with whom they've worked--but I remember how poorly I used to approach letter requests from faculty in college, especially early on in my long and illustrious career of applying to things. I would start off by apologizing. "I know that you're really busy and everything, and I don't want to give you any more work, so if you don't want to do it, you can say no..." Minutes later, I would finally spit it out, "I need...I mean, on the application it says that they want a letter... and...I mean, I'm sure you've written letters of recommendation before, for people that you've thought were...worthy of recommending...for... stuff. So...do you think that I'm...worthy?" And then, the coup de grace, I would end with some sputtering disclaimer, "I mean, if you want to. If you think that I was good in your class. But if you didn't think I was good, forget it. Whatever." Horrible, horrible, horrible. Since then, I've gotten a little better at asking. First of all, I became more confident. I got older, became less afraid of professors in general, and knew that the people I was approaching could write me strong endorsements even before I even asked them. Also, the farther you get along in academia, the easier the whole thing is, as the letter of recommendation is so standard that people all but assume that they will be asked if they've worked with you in any extended capacity. But still, it's a little awkward, that moment before you actually ask. Because really, what are you asking? Do you think you can think of enough nice things to say about me to convince other people that I'm smart? And always that fear that the answer will be no. So Dr. L. is going to write me a letter. Now I just need to find two or three more people to say that I'm cool. Easier said than done. xo Michelle |
Monday . May 13 . 2002 . 10:07pm |
recommended by doctors It's the kind of day where you just want to stay in bed all day and sleep. Cold, rainy, and wet. I don't want to learn about anesthesia. I don't want to learn about oxygen therapy. Learning to intubate was OK, but I would have still rather been snuggled up under my freshly laundered down comforter, reading my new David Sedaris book and napping between chapters. I dropped of my CV with Dr. L. today. Dr. L. was my preceptor on Medicine, and agreed to write me a letter of recommendation for my residency applications. It really wasn't a big deal to ask him, as pretty much all medicine preceptors expect that they will be hit up for letters by students with whom they've worked--but I remember how poorly I used to approach letter requests from faculty in college, especially early on in my long and illustrious career of applying to things. I would start off by apologizing. "I know that you're really busy and everything, and I don't want to give you any more work, so if you don't want to do it, you can say no..." Minutes later, I would finally spit it out, "I need...I mean, on the application it says that they want a letter... and...I mean, I'm sure you've written letters of recommendation before, for people that you've thought were...worthy of recommending...for... stuff. So...do you think that I'm...worthy?" And then, the coup de grace, I would end with some sputtering disclaimer, "I mean, if you want to. If you think that I was good in your class. But if you didn't think I was good, forget it. Whatever." Horrible, horrible, horrible. Since then, I've gotten a little better at asking. First of all, I became more confident. I got older, became less afraid of professors in general, and knew that the people I was approaching could write me strong endorsements even before I even asked them. Also, the farther you get along in academia, the easier the whole thing is, as the letter of recommendation is so standard that people all but assume that they will be asked if they've worked with you in any extended capacity. But still, it's a little awkward, that moment before you actually ask. Because really, what are you asking? Do you think you can think of enough nice things to say about me to convince other people that I'm smart? And always that fear that the answer will be no. So Dr. L. is going to write me a letter. Now I just need to find two or three more people to say that I'm cool. Easier said than done. xo Michelle |
