Katieletter

To Someone or other At some company somewhere

20 June 09

Dear Human Resources,

It seems like Katie Rispoli is constantly apologizing for some screw-up or another. "Oh, sorry, I put the sign-up sheets out too soon and the class missed the big integrating moment," "Oh, sorry, I did all that research so you could buy the perfect laptop for your application, but maybe that wasn't the best choice after all." It goes on. The list is long!

What's wrong with Katie Rispoli? Is she the biggest screw-up in the history of teaching assistants?

Well, possibly! But in fairness, we probably shouldn't compare a player who's on the court for 48 minutes with one who plays for 4. It's not a surprise that the 48-minute player might make a larger number of "mistakes" in a game. It also might not be surprising that she scores 10 times more points, dominates the boards, never walks the ball downcourt when she can run it, has an insane number of assists, and, perhaps most tellingly of all, puts on a relentless full-court-press for every single one of those 48 minutes.

Katie "plays" ("works") with an intensity I have almost never encountered. Where most students have, perhaps an over-awareness of their exact position on the food-chain, Katie is as fearless to deal with someone at the top as she is to hoist up someone at the bottom. I have been amazed to see Katie work with students who look like they wouldn't even speak to her, and yet, time after time, she finds a way to draw them out. I "fear" that she connects to "my" students better than I do.

To be honest I do not know too much about the position Katie is applying for. The truth is, it doesn't matter. If I were a captain picking a team: a schoolyard basketball team, or an executive team, I'd always want Katie on my team. Even if it happened to be a "sport" Katie had never played, and there were other players who had experience, I'd always go for Katie's proven drive and dedication.

Katie Rispoli is one of those "players," like Captain Kirk or Serena Williams, it's just a privilege to see her in action.

Please contact me if you have any further questions.

Regards,

Glenn Zucman Lecturer Department of Art California State University, Long Beach