1.
Dear
Sir
or
Madam,
My
name
is
Patrick
Rametti,
and
I
am
writing
this
letter
on
behalf
of
my
former
high
school
Guidance
Counselor,
Ms.
Lisa
Ochwat.
Coincidentally,
or
perhaps
not,
I
am
currently
the
Director
of
College
Guidance
at
North
Star
Academy,
a
public
charter
school
in
Newark,
NJ.
I’ve
spent
countless
hours
throughout
my
young
professional
career
writing
letters
of
recommendation
for
my
students,
but
Ms.
Ochwat’s
request
for
a
reference
suddenly
flipped
the
script
on
me.
In
order
for
me
to
write
a
reference
for
Ms.
Ochwat,
I
have
no
choice
but
to
think
back
to
my
adolescence—while
definitely
some
of
the
more
memorable
years
of
my
life,
they
were
also
scarred
by
some
of
the
most
difficult
times
as
well.
In
my
youth,
the
odds
were
certainly
stacked
against
me,
and
Ms.
Ochwat
was
one
of
the
key
drivers
of
my
success.
But
the
irony
of
this
letter
is
that
I
am
not
writing
about
one
of
my
students
today,
I
am
writing
about
Ms.
Ochwat
when
she
was
the
counselor
supporting
me
in
my
teenage
years.
For
context,
I
attended
Church
Farm
School,
a
small
all-­‐male
boarding
school
in
Exton,
PA,
from
2000-­‐
2004.
Ms.
Ochwat
was
my
assigned
counselor
during
all
four
years.
During
the
years
that
I
attended
CFS,
I
was,
in
many
ways,
walking
a
very
fine
line
between
poverty
and
opportunity.
To
be
honest,
I
was
lucky
to
be
at
CFS
and
to
have
the
chance
at
a
high
quality,
personalized
education
and
the
care
and
guidance
from
a
counselor
as
endearing
as
Ms.
Ochwat.
And
at
the
same
time,
life
at
CFS
seemed
too
good
to
be
true
at
times.
Back
home,
my
father
was
suffering
with
a
range
of
health
problems,
most
prominently,
a
failing
liver.
He
spent
about
half
of
my
high
school
career
in
the
hospital
before
passing
away
mid-­‐way
through
my
freshman
year
in
college.
My
mother,
who
suffered
from
chronic
progressive
multiple
sclerosis,
was
permanently
bedridden
and
passed
away
during
my
sophomore
year
in
college.
When
my
parents
were
alive,
their
sicknesses
were
compounded
by
the
fact
that
we
lived
in
a
poor
neighborhood
in
Trenton,
NJ
where
less
than
the
2%
of
the
population
had
earned
a
college
degree
of
any
sort.
Some
will
say
none
of
that
matters
now
that
I
have
a
Bachelor’s
Degree
from
a
top
fifty
university
and
just
purchased
my
first
home
in
November
at
the
age
of
28.
But
it
does
matter.
It
matters
because
stories
like
mine
are
unique.
There
are
many
youth
who
grow
up
and
never
have
the
opportunity
to
buy
a
home—they’ll
be
constrained
from
doing
so
by
a
society
that
undermines
the
importance
of
strong
counseling
in
schools
and
puts
the
onus
on
young
people
to
figure
out
how
to
navigate
life
on
their
own.
Privileged
kids
get
the
advantage
of
a
private
education
and/or
parental
guidance
that
will,
more
often
than
not,
lead
to
a
life
of
opportunity.
The
average
kid,
though,
will
be
lucky
to
even
meet
their
high
school
guidance
counselor
let
alone
get
guidance
from
them.
After
all,
how
can
a
counselor
have
any
meaningful
impact
when
they
have
200
students
in
their
caseload—or
in
some
states,
800
students.
But
regardless
of
how
hard
I
did
or
didn’t
have
it
at
home,
the
reality
is
that
I
was
one
of
the
privileged
kids.
I
went
to
CFS,
and
I
had
a
world
class
Guidance
Counselor
and
a
team
of
veteran
teachers
behind
me.
Ms.
Ochwat
served
as
my
guard
rails
while
I
was
in
high
school
and
even
in
college—she
kept
me
on
track
when
I
started
to
veer
off,
and
at
times,
when
I
began
to
spin
out
of
control.
There
are
so
many
things
that
Ms.
Ochwat
has
done
for
me
that
I
am
sure
this
letter
won’t
even
capture
half
of
it.

2. While
I
was
in
high
school,
it
was
no
secret
that
I
had
a
lot
going
on
at
home.
And
yet
no
one
was
more
knowledgeable
about
my
situation
than
Ms.
Ochwat.
Not
surprisingly,
Ms.
Ochwat
never
allowed
me
to
use
my
circumstances
to
make
excuses.
In
fact,
she
would
encourage
me
to
achieve
at
the
highest
level
possible.
She
came
to
expect
nothing
less
of
me
then
excellence,
and
she
even
pushed
me
as
an
upperclassman
by
helping
me
to
identify
new
courses
to
take
not
offered
at
my
high
school
via
an
independent
study
program.
She
ensured
that
I
had
a
means
to
get
back
and
forth
from
home
so
that
I
could
work
weekends
and
tend
to
the
needs
of
my
family.
She
checked
in
on
me
regularly
to
make
sure
I
was
coping
with
the
stress
of
home
and
managing
my
school
work
effectively.
Like
many
other
students,
I
would
often
go
to
Ms.
Ochwat’s
office
to
talk
or
just
to
find
solace
for
a
few
minutes
in
the
midst
of
a
busy
school
day.
Ms.
Ochwat
was
not
only
critical
during
my
high
school
career,
but
she
continued
to
play
a
major
role
in
my
life
throughout
college
and
beyond.
I
would
be
remiss
if
I
failed
to
mention
the
scholarships
that
Ms.
Ochwat
informed
me
about.
These
same
scholarships
helped
me
pay
my
way
through
college
(upwards
of
$7,000/year).
Not
surprisingly,
Ms.
Ochwat
was
one
of
the
first
people
to
visit
me
in
college.
She
reached
out
while
at
a
conference
in
DC,
and
made
sure
to
stop
by
campus
for
lunch
and
a
pep
talk
just
to
remind
me
that
she
is
in
my
corner.
Not
even
a
year
later,
it
was
Ms.
Ochwat
and
a
van
of
my
former
teachers
and
peers
from
high
school
who
appeared,
unexpectedly,
at
my
father’s
funeral
all
the
way
in
Trenton.
After
my
father
passed
away,
I
began
to
lose
focus
in
college;
in
fact,
I
contemplated
dropping
out.
It
was
Ms.
Ochwat,
once
again,
who
I
turned
to
for
advice
and
who
finally
talked
sense
back
into
me.
I
would
eventually
graduate
in
December
2008,
a
semester
behind.
Sadly,
I
don’t
know
if
I
have
ever
expressed
my
gratitude
to
Ms.
Ochwat
for
her
support
over
the
years.
I
am
thankful
to
her,
though,
for
paving
the
way
for
me
to
do
the
work
that
I
do.
It
is
through
her
guidance
that
I
have
realized
my
own
capacity
for
leadership;
it
is
through
her
support
that
I
have
developed
empathy
for
others,
and
it
is
through
her
commitment
that
I
have
become
devoted
to
a
career
in
college
counseling.
And
yet,
it
was
WITH
her
guidance
that
I
was
able
to
navigate
the
most
challenging
years
of
my
life
and
stay
the
course
even
when
the
road
got
bumpy.
Ms.
Ochwat
is
not
only
a
great
counselor,
but
she
is
a
great
human
and
an
asset
to
our
society.
She
will
be
a
valued
member
of
whatever
community
she
joins
next!
Sincerely,
Patrick Rametti
Director
of
College
Counseling
North
Star
Academy
College
Preparatory
High
School
13
Central
Avenue
Newark,
NJ
07102
T:
973
286
6390