Those Darn Letters of Rec

My AmeriCorps contract has finally terminated and I am spending my first few weeks of unemployment on a mini-vacation that I saved up my preciously scant AmeriCorps money to enjoy: visiting friends in New Mexico.  We've been hiding from the southwest heat playing video games in between their jobs and cooking meals together.  

Now, I have to focus on the dreaded process of stalking asking professors for letters of recommendation for my applications.  It's a very nerve-wracking process - there is always that general fear of rejection.  I dislike requesting letters via e-mail since feels impersonal, but I don't have the option of being on campus.  Even as an undergrad, it was hard to catch a professor outside of office hours without a hoard of eager undergrads.  I also never felt like I stood out as a great student that deserved a great letter of rec - I wasn't the Smart Student who asked well-thought questions, but I was never the Annoying Student who asked random questions.  My "small" classes were almost always packed with 60+ more eager pre-meds.

In the process, I learned (the hard way) not to ask professors who never respond to student e-mails.  Although I prefer meeting with professors face-to-face, I also need someone who can respond to an e-mail even if it takes 3-4 weeks.  Since I won't be applying until next June, I can afford to wait 3-4 weeks for an e-mail.

I have one more professor to ask for a letter and hopefully that will be the last one to ask.  I'm excited that my Developmental Bio/Embryology professor agreed to write a letter for me since I LOVED the class.  Although, all I remember from that class is "ectoderm," "endoderm" and using my AWESOME Staedtler Triplus Fineliner Pens to re-draw/write all my notes from class.  The lab was fun too...I like being able to physically see most of what I was studying with a plain old light microscope, as opposed to globs of fluorescent markers. 

For now, I'll focus on compiling my unofficial transcripts and CVs for my current letter-writers and hope for the best on the last one.  Maybe I'll take a walk today and try to watch the sunset too.  Southwest sunsets are pretty, especially when there are a few clouds in the sky.