The Strange Duties of a Teacher

Tonight I had to quickly whip out a recommendation letter for a former student who is jobless, desperate, and suddenly opting for grad school.

His first name: Christ.

The pronunciation rhymes with "mist," but still, it makes for a difficult letter to write. Some bits of it:

Christ was a student in my Introductory Poetry Workshop last spring semester.

In addition to his writing talent, Christ possesses a long list of qualities that will make him an exceptional graduate student.

I would have loved to have had Christ as a student for another semester, and I can only hope for more students of his caliber in the future.

When it got really bizarre, I decided to just go with it:

Political science is a passion of Christ’s (I can’t believe I just typed that, but I’m leaving it in) and if given the chance, he will thrive in a program where he can immerse himself in the study of it.