To Whom It May Concern: I am pleased to recommend Ethan Morlu for consideration for your scholarship. I have known Mr. Morlu through his high school career and have had the pleasure to teach him first for PreAP English 9, and then again for AP Language and Composition. Ethan’s GPA and successes as a Boy Scout and through church volunteer work speak volumes for his passion and dedication to education and the world around him, so I would like to highlight a few instances that set Ethan apart from other applicants that have similar resumes. Ethan has always been an exceptional student, even from the beginning of his time in high school when most students are still trying to figure out their path and their place in a new building. Most freshmen in advanced classes are eager to continue getting good grades, but Ethan’s eagerness went beyond a desire to see an A on his assignments or report cards- he was genuinely interested in learning. Although he may not have liked the time he lost as he completed assignments, it was clear that he enjoyed the fruits of his labor when he discovered things within the books we read that was brand new to him. He would ask questions in class that demonstrated a level of understanding that exceeded most of his peers and in addition, one of my favorite things is that he would leave notes for me to find that included more thought-provoking questions, revelations, or games and puzzles that he created for me to complete, based on what we were talking about in class. His most notable was his research into Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird- Ethan discovered that there may be a hidden, symbolic meaning with the name and was eager to present his findings to me in one of his notes. Few students would be willing to engage with the teacher beyond what was presented in class, let alone construct creative games for them to play. I’ve never had a student do this before, and his notes of observations, questions, and games is something I have kept and continue to treasure. Ethan is naturally intelligent and, unlike others, able to think quickly on his feet to make insightful connections. One instance of this is when he was completing a project for Frankenstein. As a joke, Ethan came to me at lunch with a blank sheet of paper and told me he was submitting it as his symbolism project. When I played along and asked why it was symbolic, Ethan (in the spur of the moment) launched into a detailed explanation of how the blank paper represented Frankenstein’s emptiness as he tried to come to terms with the monster he created and then was able to juxtapose this against the opposite side (also blank) of the monster, who was blank because society would not accept him and he was forced to create his own existence. This is a short summary of his explanation, which was several minutes long as he enjoyed the “joke,” complete with analysis of the characters. To speak to his character: when I told him he no longer had to submit a project, that I was accepting this presentation as his project, he was stunned and fell silent, truly believing he had somehow swindled his way out of doing “real” work. He finally accepted this opportunity as a learning experience as well: demonstrating understanding of content does not always need to be done in a formal pen and paper format- but can be completed in any way that demonstrates authentic understanding and analysis of the topic. Ethan’s eagerness for academics is tied into a desire to understand as much as he can about the world around him while pushing himself out of his comfort zone. When he gets assignments returned to him, he interacts with my comments on virtual assignments, asking questions about what I meant or what he could have improved. In person, he’ll stay back to ask questions and to talk about other directions he had considered going in, to get feedback and to discuss how he approaches things versus how I or his other classmates would approach things. He then takes our conversations to heart and applies them to other classes and to projects that come later in English. He thrives in situations where he can work with others so that he can bounce ideas off of his peers and to soak up what contributions they have that are different from his own thoughts and experiences. Anything he learns, he uses in future assignments to impact how he approaches topics and how he responds to what is asked of him. Ethan is a wonderful student who is destined for greatness, and I encourage you to be part of his journey. I recommend him without question and without reservation.
To Whom It May Concern: I am pleased to recommend Ethan Morlu for consideration for your scholarship. I have known Mr. Morlu through his high school career and have had the pleasure to teach him first for PreAP English 9, and then again for AP Language and Composition. Ethan’s GPA and successes as a Boy Scout and through church volunteer work speak volumes for his passion and dedication to education and the world around him, so I would like to highlight a few instances that set Ethan apart from other applicants that have similar resumes. Ethan has always been an exceptional student, even from the beginning of his time in high school when most students are still trying to figure out their path and their place in a new building. Most freshmen in advanced classes are eager to continue getting good grades, but Ethan’s eagerness went beyond a desire to see an A on his assignments or report cards- he was genuinely interested in learning. Although he may not have liked the time he lost as he completed assignments, it was clear that he enjoyed the fruits of his labor when he discovered things within the books we read that was brand new to him. He would ask questions in class that demonstrated a level of understanding that exceeded most of his peers and in addition, one of my favorite things is that he would leave notes for me to find that included more thought-provoking questions, revelations, or games and puzzles that he created for me to complete, based on what we were talking about in class. His most notable was his research into Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird- Ethan discovered that there may be a hidden, symbolic meaning with the name and was eager to present his findings to me in one of his notes. Few students would be willing to engage with the teacher beyond what was presented in class, let alone construct creative games for them to play. I’ve never had a student do this before, and his notes of observations, questions, and games is something I have kept and continue to treasure. Ethan is naturally intelligent and, unlike others, able to think quickly on his feet to make insightful connections. One instance of this is when he was completing a project for Frankenstein. As a joke, Ethan came to me at lunch with a blank sheet of paper and told me he was submitting it as his symbolism project. When I played along and asked why it was symbolic, Ethan (in the spur of the moment) launched into a detailed explanation of how the blank paper represented Frankenstein’s emptiness as he tried to come to terms with the monster he created and then was able to juxtapose this against the opposite side (also blank) of the monster, who was blank because society would not accept him and he was forced to create his own existence. This is a short summary of his explanation, which was several minutes long as he enjoyed the “joke,” complete with analysis of the characters. To speak to his character: when I told him he no longer had to submit a project, that I was accepting this presentation as his project, he was stunned and fell silent, truly believing he had somehow swindled his way out of doing “real” work. He finally accepted this opportunity as a learning experience as well: demonstrating understanding of content does not always need to be done in a formal pen and paper format- but can be completed in any way that demonstrates authentic understanding and analysis of the topic. Ethan’s eagerness for academics is tied into a desire to understand as much as he can about the world around him while pushing himself out of his comfort zone. When he gets assignments returned to him, he interacts with my comments on virtual assignments, asking questions about what I meant or what he could have improved. In person, he’ll stay back to ask questions and to talk about other directions he had considered going in, to get feedback and to discuss how he approaches things versus how I or his other classmates would approach things. He then takes our conversations to heart and applies them to other classes and to projects that come later in English. He thrives in situations where he can work with others so that he can bounce ideas off of his peers and to soak up what contributions they have that are different from his own thoughts and experiences. Anything he learns, he uses in future assignments to impact how he approaches topics and how he responds to what is asked of him. Ethan is a wonderful student who is destined for greatness, and I encourage you to be part of his journey. I recommend him without question and without reservation.
To Whom It May Concern: I am pleased to recommend Ethan Morlu for consideration for your scholarship. I have known Mr. Morlu through his high school career and have had the pleasure to teach him first for PreAP English 9, and then again for AP Language and Composition. Ethan’s GPA and successes as a Boy Scout and through church volunteer work speak volumes for his passion and dedication to education and the world around him, so I would like to highlight a few instances that set Ethan apart from other applicants that have similar resumes. Ethan has always been an exceptional student, even from the beginning of his time in high school when most students are still trying to figure out their path and their place in a new building. Most freshmen in advanced classes are eager to continue getting good grades, but Ethan’s eagerness went beyond a desire to see an A on his assignments or report cards- he was genuinely interested in learning. Although he may not have liked the time he lost as he completed assignments, it was clear that he enjoyed the fruits of his labor when he discovered things within the books we read that was brand new to him. He would ask questions in class that demonstrated a level of understanding that exceeded most of his peers and in addition, one of my favorite things is that he would leave notes for me to find that included more thought-provoking questions, revelations, or games and puzzles that he created for me to complete, based on what we were talking about in class. His most notable was his research into Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird- Ethan discovered that there may be a hidden, symbolic meaning with the name and was eager to present his findings to me in one of his notes. Few students would be willing to engage with the teacher beyond what was presented in class, let alone construct creative games for them to play. I’ve never had a student do this before, and his notes of observations, questions, and games is something I have kept and continue to treasure. Ethan is naturally intelligent and, unlike others, able to think quickly on his feet to make insightful connections. One instance of this is when he was completing a project for Frankenstein. As a joke, Ethan came to me at lunch with a blank sheet of paper and told me he was submitting it as his symbolism project. When I played along and asked why it was symbolic, Ethan (in the spur of the moment) launched into a detailed explanation of how the blank paper represented Frankenstein’s emptiness as he tried to come to terms with the monster he created and then was able to juxtapose this against the opposite side (also blank) of the monster, who was blank because society would not accept him and he was forced to create his own existence. This is a short summary of his explanation, which was several minutes long as he enjoyed the “joke,” complete with analysis of the characters. To speak to his character: when I told him he no longer had to submit a project, that I was accepting this presentation as his project, he was stunned and fell silent, truly believing he had somehow swindled his way out of doing “real” work. He finally accepted this opportunity as a learning experience as well: demonstrating understanding of content does not always need to be done in a formal pen and paper format- but can be completed in any way that demonstrates authentic understanding and analysis of the topic. Ethan’s eagerness for academics is tied into a desire to understand as much as he can about the world around him while pushing himself out of his comfort zone. When he gets assignments returned to him, he interacts with my comments on virtual assignments, asking questions about what I meant or what he could have improved. In person, he’ll stay back to ask questions and to talk about other directions he had considered going in, to get feedback and to discuss how he approaches things versus how I or his other classmates would approach things. He then takes our conversations to heart and applies them to other classes and to projects that come later in English. He thrives in situations where he can work with others so that he can bounce ideas off of his peers and to soak up what contributions they have that are different from his own thoughts and experiences. Anything he learns, he uses in future assignments to impact how he approaches topics and how he responds to what is asked of him. Ethan is a wonderful student who is destined for greatness, and I encourage you to be part of his journey. I recommend him without question and without reservation.