Early last week a student asked me for a recommendation that is due this Sunday. I told her I was happy to complete the recommendation, but that she needed to leave a signed copy of the recommendation form in my box by last Friday (this week is spring break), and email me at least a draft copy of her personal statement by this past Monday, so I'd have time to write her a thorough recommendation.
I didn't hear from her until today. She sent me her information, which is good. What is not so good is that today is Wednesday, and she still has not gotten me the first page of the recommendation (which has the important student waiver of information on it), and would like me to campus mail her the recommendation letter. She, herself, will not be back in town until Friday.
I sent her a reply that I will still write her letter if she wants, but it will be less thorough given the time lag. Additionally, I have told her that she needs to get me the first page of the recommendation by Friday morning because I am going out of town for the weekend. I said she'll have to let me know if she still wants me to write it.
Why am I so frustrated about this? I have a really hard time sometimes not taking student actions personally, when they're really only hurting themselves. Have any of you had similar experiences? How do you react to students who aren't on the ball?
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3 comments:
I'd be frustrated. You are at an institution which prides itself on the quality of the students it matriculates. It's probably quite annoying to have one of those students ask you to do a favor and then be flaky about it. You might have expected that here, but not there.
Thanks, Bookmobile. I think that has a lot to do with it. Although, as a previous student of a similar "there" school, I don't think I would have ever acted so irresponsibly, but then I sometimes hold inexplicably high standards for myself.
Ah well. I wrote her the letter, and she mailed it in late, so she'll just have to see what the consequences are. She's a sophomore, so this may be her "learning experience" for next time.
i think sometimes kids think they'll get breaks--because they're kids. don't take it personally because it doesn't mean as much to her as it means to you...you know? you're la bamba baby:-)
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