Reach out for recommendations

By BEAU OKECHUKWU

Student Reporter

Recommendation letters are an important tool for getting into college and moving up in employment. Amarillo College students say they are realizing how crucial recommendation letters can be. 

“A proper recommendation letter can show one’s many skills and talents,” Ganh Souktakith, a business management major, said. “A well-written recommendation letter will show one’s work ethic and provide crucial context that a resume wouldn’t.” 

Recommendation letters aren’t necessarily easy to come by, but it is important to be persistent. “Just keep trying,” Souktakith said, adding that aspiring students have let an evasive letter from someone in authority get between them and their dreams of transferring to a university. 

“It may come to a point when you have second thoughts, but just get through that day and that chapter one foot at a time and everything will come together,” Souktakith said. 

Students say a recommendation letter should  preferably come from someone who is well-respected. 

“It is important to get a letter from someone who is credible because that person has already gone through trials and tribulations and that is going to catch the eye of someone more,” Kimberly Beltran, a nursing major, said. “Someone who has gone through similar experiences as you in the field you’re working is going to give you a boost. That just adds credibility to your push for whatever position or goal you are pursuing.” 

Beltran also recommended seeking recommendations from people in positions of authority or leadership. “If you happen to get a letter from someone who is high up, they’re giving you that honor and basically saying that they trust you,” she said. 

People who get asked for recommendation letters said they view the requests as an honor. “I feel a sense of humility,” Aaron Faver, a government instructor, said. Instructors often say how they want to leave a mark on their students and a request for a recommendation letter gives them some confirmation, said Faver. “I’m always hopeful that I’m having an impact.”