Writing a Recommendation Letter
"Hey Terence, I have to ask you something," said Arlen as he offered a paper to Terence Nonliquet.
"Shoot," replied Terence, taking the paper.
"Well, I need a recommendation letter. I applied for a part-time job at Acme Engineering next semester, and they told me to have two references send them letters. This is the address and job description, and here's the name of the person to send it to."
Terence shifted uneasily on his feet. It was still fairly early in the fall semester, but from homework and quizzes Terence knew Arlen was the weakest student in his freshman-level computer science class at Nosce Te Ipsum University.
"Are you sure you really want me?" Terence asked. "You know, I'm still only a junior. Sometimes the Computer Science Department use upperclassmen as teaching assistants. Usually they go for seniors, but my record was good and they were really shorthanded for some reason. This fall is my first semester teaching. Wouldn't it be better to get a professor?"
"But I don't know my professors that well," Arlen responded. "At least, not as well as you. The freshman classes here are so impersonal sometimes. Plus, I'm not doing that well in some of their classes."
Terence could hardly restrain himself. "You're not doing that well in here either, if I remember right."
"Yeah, but I'm learning something in here. You do a good job. I'll do better on the exams. You'll see. Can you please do this?"
"OK, I guess. I haven't written a letter like this before. When do you need it?"
Arlen grinned sheepishly. "Next Friday?" he ventured. Terence's eyes widened, but then he wordlessly nodded assent.
That night he called Leah Nonlibet, a junior in geology at NTI and his girlfriend of about a year. He described what had happened. "Wow!" she chuckled. "First you're a TA as only a junior, and now you're writing recommendation letters. Maybe I should have you write one for me someday! At least I'm not the worst student in my class!"
"It's not very funny, Leah. I've never done this before."
Immediately Leah's tone grew serious. "You're right. I guess you'll just have to tell Acme not to hire this guy."
"I can't just do that," Terence sputtered. "Arlen is trying to get a job. He asked for my help. I can't stab him in the back like that!"
"But you're supposed to be honest," Leah observed. "You have a duty to tell Acme the truth. If Arlen is the worst student in your class, you have to tell them."
"The trouble is, he might actually do OK at Acme," Terence countered. "Arlen is not the bookish type, but he has a lot of common sense and he's friendly. I read the job description; it doesn't require a lot of smarts. If I really think there's a chance he'll do well, I shouldn't write something I know will keep him from getting hired."
"How about avoiding the problem by not writing the letter?" Leah queried.
"No. I agreed to do it, so I have to follow through. Or if I don't, I need to tell him so he can ask someone else."
"So then you're stuck. You have to tell the truth. He's the worst student in the class. What company wants that? He should know better than to ask you. I think..."
"Leah, you are so totally inflexible!" Terence broke in. "I have to think about it. Let's talk about something else."
