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Will you sign on a sealed envelope?

Last night, I was going through the recommendation letters that I have got from my professors at the college. Actually, I was sorting them into different application packets for the 10 different places I am applying to. And then I remembered something.

The first time I had gone there, I had got my recommendation letters in envelopes and had them sealed. Later, I came to know that you also needed a signature across the flap of the envelope to prove its authenticity. So I was off, last weekend, to my college, to get signatures across the flaps.

Now, as you might understand, I reached my professors with 10 envelopes, each of them duly sealed, but bearing no other mark of identification or proof about the contents within. I had also bought extra envelopes so that I may get the letters out, put them in the new envelopes, seal them and have their signatures on them. To my amazement, they asked me not to open them, and just put their signatures on the envelopes. I was stumped... I mean, I could as well have got their signature on a sealed envelope containing anything written on the inside, or they could have contained even some narcotics, anything! Personally, in their shoes I don't think I would have done that. I would've asked the student to put the letters in the new envelopes, and then signed, etc. because the affair would neither be costly nor time-consuming, just plain playing safe. But well, they did not give this a second thought.

I have been really humbled by this. Humbled by the trust and belief they place on me. I know that my four years of engineering have not gone waste. I have earned the trust and good will of these people. I know that they will sustain me in the future.

Comments

  1. Hi Sudipta.Ur posts are always nice to read...but your this post is really a bit touchy...the feeling of joy,satisfaction ...etc etc mixed together that you may have experinced at that particular time when u went to get your signatures are depicted very nicely in your blog.Even I could feel it.Its really nice to get things in return sometimes...

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  2. Oindrilla, yes even I was touched by their gesture. And thanks for all the compliments, once again :)

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  3. Are you sudipta_cht from edulix, perchance?

    If yes, bets of luck with your apping :)

    Laters \m/

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  4. Corleone, yes... just a small bout of senti :)

    Amogh, you bet! I am the one :) Thanks for the good wishes, and same to you as well...

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  5. Naah, that's foolishness. I can understand your elation. But from the prof's point of view, better safe than sorry. As far as signatures go, they shouldn't come that easy. What do you say?

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  6. not foolishness i feel , coz even if there was something undesirable in the envelopes you would have been the first person on line of fire...considering this they might have agreed to do so...

    so which ones r u looking for..?luck

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  7. Sunshine, if not foolishness, then it is at least prudent to sign on a fresh envelope. Except maybe if someone you know very closely is asking for a signature. But well, as I said, I was touched.

    Anubhav, welcome back. Yes, true, but I could also have got a new reco inside and asked them to sign. Anyway, that chapter is over now. Looking forward to a new student life once again in 6 months time

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  8. Are you sure they signed on the envelopes bearing their recos? It would be funny if the inside had one name and the outside had another! I do believe you must have asked at least 2-3 Profs for recos right?

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  9. hi sudip, good to see you back couldnt visit earlier because of work. this experience you narrated is indeed humbling. of course I wouldn't sign like that either. all the best for your applications. do visit my blog when you have time.

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  10. Gratisgab, well, yes, there were three profs. And guess what? I had even added a "FROM" on the bottom left of the envelope with each of their names written on them. And trust me that is a scary thought, one name outside and another inside *shudder*

    Priyangini, hi! Yes... humbling indeed. Me too won't sign. And I will go to your blog right away. Sorry... even I missed them for sometime

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  11. Best of Luck for your new ventures!
    Well this just shows, that you were a really good student and your Prof's trust u so much!
    Man! you've really made me senti abt my Prof's of the college days.
    I read your article in this month's LFY!
    How do you find time to write articles and... in your schedules!

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  12. Vivekanand, welcome back! Yes, I used to (and still do) share a bond with my professors. And thanks for the comments about my article. Will publicise pretty soon about that here on my blog :)

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  13. yes, i was wondering about the same thing. Some nice profs even sign on blank unsealed envelope flaps....

    One 'mean' prof said she would sign my letters one day, and the next day I should come over with the sealed envelopes. She just wanted to make me run around her some more. Thats an interesting example of how meanness can block out clear thinking :-)

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  14. Evenstar, welcome aboard! Yeah, guess what, someone whom I took a reco from also signed on a blank unsealed envelope.

    About that mean prof, uhh... you sure had a tough time.

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