A/N: Ted Orion's college recommendation letter for Charlie
Letter of Recommendation
Dear University of Minnesota Admissions Committee,
I have known Charles Conway since he was fourteen years old, and it would be my greatest pleasure to recommend him for the University of Minnesota's undergraduate program.
I was Charles's Junior Varsity hockey coach at Eden Hall Academy during his freshman year of high school, and I continued to coach even after he got promoted to play on our Varsity team during his sophomore year. His leadership ability is backed by his compassion, patience, and loyalty to his teammates, and he's displayed tremendous growth in maturity throughout all four years of my coaching him.
Eden Hall Academy demands a "C" average for students to be involved in any athletic team. But Charles has exceeded those expectations and, over the years, has become an "A" student, which is beyond what I expect from my players, and I believe that he would do well in an honors program.
His tremendous leadership ability accompanies his academic success. Not only was he the captain of the Junior Varsity Mighty Ducks team, but he went on to co-captain the Varsity team at the sophomore level. He has demonstrated incredible hard work through not only his captaining of both hockey teams, but he also willingly gave up his spot on the roster during the Junior Goodwill Games when he was thirteen years old so that his best friend could have a chance to play in the finals, which ultimately led to Team USA winning gold; I watched his tapes from when he played in Peewees and during the Junior Goodwill Games, and he is an incredible scorer who has also improved immensely at playing defensively, to where he has brought Eden Hall Academy's Mighty Ducks team to four consecutive state championship titles. When he isn't playing ice hockey, he is either waiting tables at Mickey's Dining Car, taking care of his mother, who has raised him on her own for most of his life, or volunteering to assistant coach the children on District Five's Mites ice hockey team.
I've watched him as an assistant coach, and he is wonderful with the children, who range between ages five and six. Whenever he coaches, he displays incredible patience and dedication and cares deeply for the children that he works with. He gives them rides home after practices and stays with them at the rink until their parents come to pick them up, even tutoring them in homework after school.
People in Minnesota may call Gordon Bombay the Minnesota Miracle Man. But from what I've witnessed over the past four years, it's safe to say that Charles Conway is the true Minnesota Miracle Man, and I know that he would fit right in at the University of Minnesota and is the perfect candidate for your Special Education undergraduate program, which will allow him to pursue getting a teaching license in English Education.
Please let me know if I can provide any more information to strengthen Charles's candidacy for the Special Education undergraduate program.
I know that he will make many miracles in people's lives, whether with youth hockey or teaching English at whatever grade level.
Sincerely,
Theodore Orion