letters

Today I wrote five letters. 

One to an influential elementary school teacher who—aside from my parents—was the most beneficial and appreciated guide in my road to loving the written word—both reading it and creating it. It was a letter of thanks, of reflection, of exploration. It was a letter that I hoped would express even just a portion of the gratitude I have for her dedication to teaching students to love learning and to be confident in themselves and their abilities. It was a letter that told her that her work does not go unnoticed nor unappreciated.

Past

One to my dear Sister Aase—it was a letter I've been sporadically adding scrawled sentences and paragraphs to over the course of a week and a half or so, but kept forgetting to send. I put the final touches on the letter, sealed in in an envelope with Hedwig sitting serenely in the top right corner, and slipped it in the mailbox to be picked up on Monday. It was a letter laced with obscure Harry Potter trivia and random thoughts that deserved being labeled with #onlymaddieunderstands. It said I miss you, I'm proud of you, and gee, doesn't time fly?

Present

The last three to faceless HR employees and internship directors whose offices are situated somewhere on the East Coast. These were sent electronically, and unlike the other letters I hand wrote today, they are already in somebody's inbox waiting to be read or ignored. I like to think that the recipients will slide into their office chairs on Monday, boot up their computers, and be delighted to find my cover letter and résumé patiently waiting to be opened and read. These letters attempt to show my knowledge of the company. They explain why I want the job and why I think I'm a good fit. (These letters are the hardest to write.) But realistically I know that a quick fifteen-second glance before going into the recycle bin is the most these three letters are likely to get. (But don't worry, I'll be writing more of these and distributing them across states and cities. I'm nowhere near ready to throw in the towel.)

Future

Today I wrote five letters. 

past

present

future