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Congratulations
on winning that $10,000 scholarship. That money
sure will come in handy, especially since your
college tuition is $10,000 a year!
Gratitude -- Say
It With a Thank-You Letter
By Feona Sharhran Huff
February 2001
The CollegeBound Network NewsClick -- So, how
did you do it? Out of the 2,000 students who applied
for the same scholarship, how did you manage
to be the victorious one? Yes, it was surely a
combination of your 4.2 grade point average, plus
an intense and of course, emotion-filled 500-word
essay. But, it was most likely also due to the
fact that you had three strong recommendation
letters from teachers who knew your academic strengths
and community commitment.
You deserve to pat yourself
on the back for all the years of hard work that
you invested toward your future education. But,
did you also take the time to thank those people
who wrote your letters?
If it wasn't for those
letters, you may be like thousands of other students
who have to take out loans to pay for school,
or sit out a semester until they get up enough
money. According to Chris Vuturo, author of The
Scholarship Advisor (The Princeton Review,
2001), there are three major reasons why you must
write a thank-you letter to your references:
It shows that you're
responsible and professional. Scholarship
committee members can tell when references have
done a rush job on the recommendation letters.
This is not your case. Your references respected
your attempt to vie for a scholarship to help
defray college costs by making sure they wrote
the best letter possible. Do you really think
that you would have been considered for such a
huge scholarship if your references weren't responsible
and professional enough to take the proper amount
of time to write your recommendation letter?
"Recommendation letters
allow the scholarship committee to see you through
someone else's eyes," says Vuturo. Likewise, by
sending your references a simple thank-you letter,
you are showing them that you have a great amount
of respect for what they've helped you to obtain
-- a sufficient amount of money to pay for your
education -- and that you are responsible enough
to acknowledge their contribution.
You never know when
you'll need them again. When you show a lack
of appreciation for what someone's done for you,
you are basically telling them that you have no
respect for their time or efforts. Writing a thank-you
letter is not like writing a paper that will count
for 50 percent of your grade -- it's only three
paragraphs with three lines each. It's a letter
to simply say "thank you for supporting me and
my efforts to get money for school." It not only
provides an occasion for expressing your thanks,
but it implies a continuous relationship, one
which permits you to ask for help in the future,
says Vuturo. If you neglect to indicate your thankfulness,
don't expect to ask those same references for
a favor later on.
It's just the right
thing to do. Anytime someone helps you out,
no matter what it is they did, you should always
say thank you, says Vuturo. How would you feel
if you assisted someone and they never recognized
you for your contribution? You'd feel hurt and
disappointed, right? Do unto others as you want
them to do unto you!
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