Writing is really hard for me. Edits on edits on edits and I still rarely get it right. Coming from an English major and blogger, this probably alarms most of you, but I think writing naturally is and should be hard for most people. There are so many ways to word a simple feeling or thought. A slight variation in punctuation or word choice can completely change the meaning of a sentence. So how will you ever know if you’ve clearly articulated what you meant? And how will you ever know how your readers interpret your writing? As writers (which I believe we all are) I don’t suppose we will ever know. We can only try our best to be honest and sincere.

Writing is difficult! Thus, I’m apprehensive at the thought of asking someone else to write for me, but I did just that last weekend. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I’m starting to apply for summer jobs/internships and most applications require a written letter of recommendation. I nervously rattled off a 346-word email to a former high school teacher requesting a copy of the letter of recommendation she wrote for me my senior year. I don’t know why I wrote so much, but I have a feeling it was my conscience’s way of guilt tripping me.

An email is no way to request a letter of recommendation. In an ideal situation, you and your recommender would discuss the matter over a steaming cup of tea. Norah Jones would be playing while you spent a healthy chunk of time discussing the nature of the job/internship, the required components and format of the letter, the looming dateline of doom, etc. I did not have any of those luxuries because my application was due in about a week. (I promise to give more notice next time, future recommenders!)

I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to get a quality letter of recommendation until last weekend. Before I flirted with the idea of asking one of my current professors or supervisors, but I came to the conclusion that such a request would be a huge burden on anyone who has only known me for, at the most, a semester. Certainly you can’t know a person after a few months. Luckily, an understanding mentor assured me that my troubles were not unique to me: most first year students are preoccupied with adjusting to college life and, consequently, have yet to have the opportunity to foster a terribly large slew of meaningful relationships. She urged me to ask one my former teachers or coaches from high school, who have known me for a significantly longer period of time.

I was very fortunate to receive a reply from my recommender only two short days after I sent the email. She happily obliged to my inconvenient request and assured me that my letter was in the post and should arrive within the next few days. What a saint! And what a lesson learned: while we may be willing to pull all-nighters to crank out job/internship applications, others such as our recommenders have more pressing priorities.It is our responsibility to notify those who we ask favors of in advance. For those readers who are also filling out applications, be sure to stay on top of everything! The early bird gets the worm. And if you don’t like worms, the deal also comes with a couple extra hours of sleep.