Flashes of Panic

Answering a rhetorical question I asked a few weeks ago: I sent handwritten thank-you notes to those who wrote letters of recommendation. Following a hint in a conversation with one of the recommenders (not dropped intentionally, I think) I also included tins of good tea (from a site I found through Abby, and therefore JM by extension, thanks.)

I was able to deliver two by hand, and the remaining ones went in the mail. Since I had two recommenders in one department in particular, I actually sent three notes (and tins) there. The third went to the department secretary. See, while the content and signatures of the letters may have been a big boost to my applications (or a drag, I’m not sure,) the letters themselves would not have been written and mailed to me without her help. (We’re talking about some seriously absent-minded professors.)

I think I’ve put as much diplomatic effort in on this whole application process as I have in the past three years of work. (And, I should note, I handle tech-support calls and email. But that’s retail; this has been wholesale.) Serious work, for me.

Now Playing: Undertow from New Adventures In Hi-Fi by R.E.M.