About six weeks later, Flo is confronted by her star players, all three of whom make the same request during practice on Monday because they all want to apply early to college:
"Can you write a letter of recommendation for Dartmouth in early decision for me please?" Henry asks her. "You're the teacher who knows me best"
"As for me, it's Columbia ED I want a letter of recommendation for" Jacob follows up.
"University of Chicago for me" Amica starts begging for one.
"Now, I ask each of you to supply your stats, but since I knew you guys for years, I might be willing to write letters of recommendation for all of you" Flo begs with the players.
"Why ask us for our stats before deciding on whether you write recs for us?" a puzzled Amica asks her coach. "No other teacher knows us as well as you!"
"It's for your own good. Stats are just the beginning of the story for the institutions you listed. I want you to succeed after graduation, but you must remain realistic" Flo harangues the three beggars.
And I mustn't repeat information contained elsewhere in the application. Same as with students' personal statements, really, except that the onus is on me to write about how their personal qualities would make, say, Dartmouth or UChicago a good fit for them, and how these were shown throughout their high school years, Flo feels a little tormented by what it means to write three letters of recommendation for some of the strongest students in that year's class.
"One more thing: if you have any specific goals that you feel your institutions of choice would help you accomplish, I would kindly ask you to state them along with your stats by email. It will help me write recs for you, too"
"How is that different from these why X essays some institutions ask us to write?" Jacob asks her, believing that a why X essay could provide a university with an idea of the goals pursued by the applicant.
"From what I have seen, a why X focuses more on the student's experience will be than whether it will align with their goals, especially since a lot of people will change theirs once in college" Flo explains to them.
"All right then, we will send you our stats and goals in college" Jacob sighs.
"One last thing: I just want you to know that it's okay not to attend an elite college at the end of the day. I myself was in a similar position to yours in high school, I happily studied French-language literature for four years at Laval and I am happy to be here with you today" Flo harangues the whole team.
They start asking about what Flo's stats were at the time, and then the practice resumes, but with the new players being more drawn to the speech aspect of S&D. Like original oratory.
After the practice ends, and she returns home to write those letters of recommendation for her star debaters, Flo starts digging deeper in her recollections of these students, their work ethic, as well as how they engage both with the material and debate. And provide concrete examples. Ciboire! My star players are very similar in their intellectual disposition and all the other stuff I feel matters to elite colleges! UChicago especially rewards curiosity and... here comes Amica's goals and stats! Flo starts cracking when she reads Amica's email containing her goals and stats, upon realizing that she needs to rework the letter to better fit her student. The cold, hard truth is that people at Amica's intellectual level or higher often have a hard time deciding on a long-term goal, especially when you're good across subjects at school. Now I feel forced to talk about how the Core will help her satisfy her need to explore a variety of topics.
She them checks the letter against the stats to ensure that she didn't rehash them, however tempted she might have been to talk, once again, about how Amica went to double-octos at Nats with Jacob. However, she still proceeds further with the writing of the letter, knowing that her student's GPA and ACT are nowhere to be found.
However, the other two students asking her for a rec reply later than Amica did. Since they haven't arrived yet, it causes her not to start writing these, however tempted she could be to just change name and institution for Jacob. After all, they went through three seasons on the debate team together and interacted similarly with Florence.
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The following day, at the end of an AP French class, she announces an extra credit assignment after the regular homework. Without ever suspecting that one of the students could be traumatized by the subject matter of the assignment.
"Pour du crédit supplémentaire, vous allez écrire un essai sur les valeurs traditionnelles dans Maria Chapdelaine. Indice: veuillez garder en tête que ça se passe dans le Québec du dix-neuvième siècle" (For extra credit, you will write an essay on traditional values in Maria Chapdelaine. Hint: please keep in mind that it's set in nineteenth century Québec) Florence announces to the class, when Josiane comes crying to her about the topic of the extra credit.
"Madam, this extra credit assignment makes me want to cry!" Josiane comes to her, bursting in tears.
"Why exactly? If the extra credit makes you uncomfortable, you can always skip it"
"It reminds me of something I would rather forget. However, for this course, I ought to get every point I can get" Josiane keeps crying, while her boyfriend comes to her in an attempt to comfort her.
Josiane, triggered by the statement of the extra credit assignment, gets a flashback of a crucial playoff game of the VAs at the HSNCT and hence frozen in place.
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A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Imperial Ballroom A, Marriott Marquis. The Venomous Agendas were up against the Boston Latin Wolfpack, one of their most bitter quiz bowl rivals, along with Detroit Catholic Central. The VAs were trailing by ten points with one tossup to go, and they were determined to get those points amid dozens of spectators.
"Tossup twenty" the moderator started reading the question. "This 1910s-era novel was used as a propaganda tool by Quebec clergy during the Great Depression"
Everyone was shaking in their seats as the clues were being read. I can do this, Josiane started thinking, in her capacity as the VAs' quiz bowl captain, but drew a blank because she would fail to see how this book could have been used as propaganda, and apparently no one had any clue on the opposing team knew either.
"One of the main themes of this book is the allegory of a people born for a small bread" the moderator kept reading.
Then began a buzzer race against the clock between Josiane and the Wolfpack's literature player. I think I know what "being born for a small bread" means; Flo talked about it in a French class, Josiane furiously started thinking and tried to buzz in but was a fraction of a second too slow.
"Maria Chapdelaine!" Alyssa, the Wolfpack's literature player, shouted after buzzing in.
"Fifteen. For ten points each..."
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Josiane's flashback ends, but she's still sent into a tailspin because of the extra credit assignment topic.
"Why does this course remind me of my biggest failure as a quiz bowler? Of how I failed the Venomous Agendas on the national stage?" Josiane resumes crying.
"How so?" Flo asks her.
"I lost the most heartbreaking game of my life on a question about Maria Chapdelaine!" Josiane answers before storming off the AP French room.
Thank goodness Josiane didn't ask me for a letter of recommendation! She seems to be vulnerable to mental health issues, such as anxiety, and, frankly, she seems to push herself too hard. That said, she used quiz bowl to broaden her intellectual horizons, Flo ruminates while the couple leaves the classroom and goes to their next class. I wonder what Warren would say about Josiane, self-conscious about her work maybe?
"What about we ask whether the AP French extra credit can be done in pairs? That's why we have each other!" Luo tries to reassure her. "Sometimes teachers let us do extra credit in pairs, sometimes they don't"
"I wonder how much comfort that would be to me" Josiane, still reeling in from this flashback, sighs.
Yet this entire deal about Maria Chapdelaine being used for extra credit forces Flo to review the letter of recommendation she tentatively wrote for Amica to ensure there is no mention of anything remotely resembling signs of vulnerability to mental illness since she knows that will hurt a student unless an addendum is written. Even then, the addendum is the student's responsibility.
At this point, Jacob finally sends his email about his stats to Flo. She realizes also that, just because Jacob might have similar stats to Amica's (and not just because Jacob earned a good portion of the stats with Amica) doesn't mean Jacob's rec would feature the same traits and situations as Amica's. He even sent his personal statement, talking about how his family's gambling problems made him grow as a person. Myriam, a problem gambler? I would never have guessed she was a problem gambler! I need to talk to him about his sister's gambling habits and how they might have affected his life after she graduated, she then responds to Jacob's email, believing some clarification is required before she can actually write his rec.
During lunchtime, when Jacob gets to meet with Flo regarding his letter of recommendation for Columbia...
"Hi Jacob, it has come to my attention that your sister was a problem gambler. It's a little early in writing your letter of recommendation, so I would like more information about how it has affected you that isn't in the personal statement"
"I don't wish to make excuses, but it's a bigger deal than you realize" Jacob prefaces what he is about to tell Flo about his sister's role in his life and how it influenced him later in life.
Jacob then tells Flo about what distinguishes high-functioning addicts of any kind from more typical addicts. About how his sister exposed him to dishonesty. About how his sister was actually the one behind what was ostensibly their mother betting on horse races.
"Câlisse! Myriam appeared to have it all, academically speaking, when I taught her, and your mom let your sister gamble in her name?" Florence, aghast at Jacob's revelations, is left wondering just how Myriam managed to live through high school and hide her gambling problems from everyone. "How could she have hidden her gambling problems in school?"
"Hiding the true source of her stresses came very easily to her in high school. She was still stressed, make no mistake" Jacob explains to her.
"I guess, I can always talk about how your family life gave a new lease to what integrity and responsibility means to you, but if you want me to do that, please provide more concrete examples of how it happened" Flo asks him.
Jacob then writes the example he deems the most important as a follow-up to the email requesting clarification for the impact of Myriam's gambling problems on Jacob's life. Damn, I feel trapped now! I mustn't talk too much about the impact of gambling in his personal development! However, now I also feel forced to talk about such! The "cahier de charges" has become heavier with every piece of information students supply! Flo starts feeling pressured in all directions for the writing of these letters of recommendation. She starts writing Jacob's, even though she hasn't quite finished writing Amica's. Tonight, I will finish Amica's, then I will continue writing Jacob's letter of recommendation.
Speaking of Amica's rec, upon returning home that day, she polishes it a little bit before sending it to the University of Chicago. And she dives into her memories of that school to finish this process, which came from one of her classmates in high school. Gen.
"Tabarnak! Why the hell am I putting in too many specifics about what makes her a good fit for UChicago? There's no guarantee she'll get in, nor for Jacob at Columbia or Henry at Dartmouth!" Flo seems to yell before she reverses course about being specific to Chicago.
She then removes all references to UChicago from Amica's rec, while remaining mindful that it must remain within one page. Once that is done, she can think of submitting it.
Jacob's rec, on the other hand, is written without any specific reference to Columbia from the start. Which saves her some headaches going into it. Of that she needs it to avoid getting a nervous breakdown. She ends up spending hours writing Jacob's rec before Henry's stats and goals arrive. I might not be alone in having to write these recs, but the other students usually ask me to do so piecemeal and spread throughout the year. As much as the stress of applying to college goes up for the students, it also goes up for the teachers, she sighs, knowing that, while she wrote a few in the past, she never wrote more than one at a time.
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When the time comes to leave school at the very beginning of Friday, with the debate team attending Grapevine (which replaces Holy Cross in the VAs' debate calendar this season), Flo vents to Steven before departure:
"I can't believe how stressful writing recs can get! Our star players all asked me at the same time" Flo complains to the other coach, before she starts grading the French II homework in the long road trip to Grapevine.
"And they asked me, too! I am just as stressed as you" Steven answers her. "I must also deal with other kids. I must have written six this week, and I know that you must feel like recs and essays can be game-changers at the sort of schools our players are applying to. I write about fifty of these a year, but the career development course has no grading"