Lately I’ve been writing recommendation letters for my students who are applying for jobs or graduate schools. It’s a little more challenging nowadays, since I haven’t seen any of them face-to-face for 18 months, but I’m still happy to be involved in the process. My students always really appreciate my help, and they get a kick out of seeing themselves praised in print.
Also recently, I had to go through a delightful (hah!) process called post-tenure review, which I guess is intended to ensure tenured professors occasionally do our jobs. We have to put together a packet of our accomplishments, which are then reviewed by a department committee and the dean. The whole thing gets repeated every five years.
So now, in addition to the rec letters I’ve written for my students, I have the evals of me written by my colleagues and dean. And you know what? It feels really good to read them. I mean, rarely do any of us get concentrated words of appreciation and praise, right?
This has me thinking. What if once in a while, each of us writes a letter of recommendation for a friend or loved one. Not because they’re applying for anything, but so they can have something tangible to let them know their strongpoints are seen and treasured?
And while we’re at it? Why not write letters for ourselves as well?
So I’m giving you a homework assignment, because that’s my job. Write a couple of letters of recommendation. One for someone you care about and one for yourself. You don’t need to share your own with anyone else; just take it out when you need a little lift.
It’s better than having to go through post-tenure review!
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Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of numerous m/m romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.
After having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls the boring part of California home. She lives there with her family and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.
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