The letter strongly recommends Sarah Couch for a position. It details how the author has known Sarah since 2012 when she became involved with the Umoja Program at Diablo Valley College. Sarah was an excellent student who also served as a classroom mentor and was actively involved in other programs while maintaining high academic achievement. The author further commends Sarah for her leadership, maturity, integrity and engagement as demonstrated at a conference. The author expresses that Sarah is one of the brightest and most determined students they have known and that she will accomplish great things in whichever field she chooses.

1.
September
2016
I
am
writing
to
strongly
recommend
Ms.
Sarah
Couch
for
a
position
with
your
organization.
She
is
a
tremendously
competent
and
impressive
young
woman.
I
have
known
Sarah
since
2012,
when
she
first
became
involved
with
the
Umoja
Program
at
Diablo
Valley
College.
(Umoja
is
a
learning
community
for
African
and
African
American
students.)
She
was
an
excellent
student
in
my
Freshman
Composition
English
class,
and
I
got
to
know
her
quite
well.
She
also
served
as
an
Umoja
Classroom
Mentor,
visiting
assigned
classes
over
the
course
of
a
semester
to
inform
students
of
various
services
available
on
campus,
and
acting
as
a
liaison
for
students
needing
help
connecting
with
these
services.
She
did
all
this
while
being
an
active
member
of
the
Pan
African
Union
Club
and
being
involved
with
student
government
as
the
Environmental
Affairs
Officer
and
Chair
of
the
Sustainability
Committee,
spearheading
environmental
activities
on
campus.
She
is
truly
a
remarkable
person.
Sarah
is
a
marvelous
writer
and
an
astute
thinker:
She
consistently
earned
A’s
on
her
papers
in
English,
and
even
an
A+
on
an
in-­‐class
essay
about
the
book
Whistling
Vivaldi.
Her
level
of
academic
engagement
far
surpassed
most
other
students,
making
her
seem
more
like
a
graduate
student
than
a
lower-­‐division
undergrad.
She
came
to
my
office
consistently
over
the
semester
she
was
in
my
class,
making
sure
she
was
thoroughly
understanding
the
classroom
tasks,
and
asking
for
feedback
on
her
writing
(which
was
always
superb).
Because
of
her
strong
leadership
role,
maturity,
and
integrity,
the
Umoja
team
invited
her
to
attend
the
Umoja
IX
Conference
in
Alameda
in
November
2013.
Not
only
did
she
attend,
she
helped
us
lead
a
workshop,
presenting
information
about
DVC’s
mentoring
program.
She
attended
several
workshops
over
the
weekend,
engaged
with
other
students,
and
shared
ideas
about
developing
DVC’s
Umoja
program
further.
Over
the
course
of
the
weekend,
I
again
had
the
sense
that
I
was
speaking
not
to
an
18-­‐year-­‐old
undergraduate
student
(at
that
time),
but
to
a
graduate
student
in
her
30s.
I
have
rarely
known
a
student
like
Sarah—someone
as
bright,
determined,
active,
engaged,
and
thoughtful.
I
am
glad
to
have
stayed
in
touch
with
her
and
hope
to
continue
to
do
so,
as
I’m
sure
that
her
life
will
be
an
interesting
and
impressive
one—that
she’ll
accomplish
great
things
and
effect
change
in
whatever
field
she
ultimately
chooses:
law,
politics,
writing,
teaching.
Any
of
these
fields
would
be
open
to
her,
and
would
benefit
from
her
character
and
intergrity.
Your
organization
will
be
better
for
employing
Sarah,
and
I
guarantee
that
you
will
all
be
touched
by
her
presence.
Sincerely,
Heidi Goen-Salter
Heidi
Goen-­‐Salter,
English
Instructor
and
Umoja
Co-­‐Coordinator
Diablo
Valley
College
hgoensalter@dvc.edu