1. June 15, 2015
To: Whom it May Concern
From: Barbara McClure, English Instructor
I am writing a letter of support for my former student, Juliana Martinez. Ms. Martinez took freshman
composition from me in the fall of 2013 at Santa Rosa Junior College, the Petaluma campus. Though it has
been several years since I worked with Juliana, I remember her well as she was a hardworking, dedicated
student, determined to do well in her academic studies. Juliana began my English class with her first essay
grade of a B- so she knew her work was cut out for her. She hoped to earn straight A’s her first semester,
and though she ended up with a B+ in my class instead of the A, she ended the semester as a strong,
college-level writer. In all her other classes her first semester at the college, she did earn straight A’s.
Mostly, her determination and drive led her to her success. When she saw her weaknesses in her writing,
she immediately sought help and worked one-on-one with me as well as working in our Writing Center.
One of her best papers was an interview essay in which she had to interview someone who was at least a
decade older, and this paper earned her one of the highest grades in the class of an A.
I was not surprised to learn that Juliana has made the Dean’s list every semester since starting at SRJC and
currently holds a 3.67 GPA. She also is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society since Fall 2013.
She plans to transfer to a university in Southern California next spring. Juliana has managed all this while
also supporting herself by working thirty hours a week and being promoted to a supervisor of the children’s
clothing store where she was working. I am confident that you will not be disappointed in Juliana’s work
ethics and her creative approach to problem solving. While working at OshKosh where she was a
supervisor, she came up with marketing ideas that increased sales.
I teach full-time at the college and have been a member of the English Department for over twenty years.
Because I begin each semester with at least 120 students any given semester, it’s easy for me to forget the
names of many of my students after several semesters have passed. Juliana was not one of these I forgot. I
remember her shy presence at the start of the semester and the confidence she displayed at the end of the
semester when students had to read aloud their final “I Believe” 500-word essays. Juliana also came to me
to ask for help getting into another instructor’s online critical thinking class. I highly recommended her to
my colleague as I knew Juliana would be a great student to work with and had the discipline to take an
online course. Her interest in Business Marketing and Public Relations with an emphasis of the
entertainment industry, as well as her numerous positive qualities as a college student, make her a good fit
for any job.
I am currently on break for the summer, but please don’t hesitate to call me at home or contact me through
email (I do check my school email frequently but offer my personal email address as well).
Sincerely,
Barbara McClure
English Department
Santa Rosa Junior College
Cell Phone: 425-302-6606
bmcclure@santarosa.edu
bmcclure4@me.com