6 January, 2013

To Whom It May Concern:

I am enthusiastically writing on behalf of Kaylie Quimby. Kaylie was a student in my section of
WRA 150 (Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures) in the fall of 2012. The course is a first-year
writing course that focuses on issues of audience and forms of writing. Students in the class begin
with a personal narrative, move to an analytical paper, complete a research paper based on their major
and career intentions, and culminate with a creative project in which they reimagine one of their
papers in a non-written format. As a required part of the undergraduate curriculum, most students
take the course grudgingly and without enthusiasm. Kaylie was one of the students who embraced the
challenges of the course, and, whether she wanted to take the course or not, realized its potential as an
educational experience. In that way, and in many others, I saw Kaylie as truly engaging with the idea
of a liberal arts education.
Kaylie was a talented writer and clearly a hardworking student before she entered my class. Rather
than simply relying upon her existing talents, though, she applied herself to the course and made every
effort to excel. As a result, she was a superior student. She was also generous with other students.
One of the components of the course is peer review, in which students read each others papers and
provide feedback. It can be a very engaging process if the participants choose make use of it. Kaylie
treated her classmembers papers seriously, and gave excellent suggestions as well as encouragement.
She also served as a host to a high school student in the Day at State program. In this capacity, she
took a prospective freshman student to her classes, introduced her to her friends, and generally shared
the MSU experience with her for a day. Few students would take on this challenge, particularly as a
first-year student themself. Kaylie not only volunteered her time, but took the extra step of checking
with me beforehand to make sure that I would allow her to bring this student into our class for the
day. Of course I was happy to allow this, but was particularly impressed that Kaylie would have the
forethought to get permission. Over and over, she has proved herself to be a conscientious, generous,
and dedicated student.
College of Kaylie was one of the few students who took advantage of my office hours, and came to work with
Arts & Letters me individually on her assignments. Her work was good enough to get a superior grade before she
entered the class, but that was not enough for her. She wanted to get the very best grade she could,
Department of Writing,
not merely the one easiest to obtain. More importantly, she wanted to master the material and the
Rhetoric, and American
Cultures skills of the class more than she wanted the grade. There are few students I can recommend as
enthusiastically as Kaylie. I hope you come to find her as remarkable a student and person as I do.
434 Farm Lane Rm 235
East Lansing, MI
48824
517/355-2400
FAX: 517/353-5250
www.msu.edu/~wrac

Feel free to contact me if you should have any other questions.

Sincerely,

Brian D. Holcomb, PhD

holcom31@msu.edu
MSU is an affirmative-action,
equal-opportunity employer.