To the Prospective Employer:
Brea Gaillard has asked me to write in support of her application for employment, a request to which I am genuinely delighted to accede. She’s a young woman of considerable intellectual gifts, conspicuous strength of character, and relentless work ethic. A few words about the context in which I’ve known Brea and about her abilities as both a student generally and as a worker specifically will set the stage for the remarks to follow.
The Blount Scholars Program here at the University of Alabama, of which I am the Director and in which Brea has already established herself as an academic star and a citizen of the first water, is a selective, four-year, residential honors college featuring small, seminar-style classes, intensive interaction with faculty, and an integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum leading to a minor in Liberal Arts. Overall program size hovers around 400 students. Beyond the standard indices of intellectual attainment—grades and test scores—we select for three things: intellectual agency, a commitment to hard work, and a spirit of social engagement. Brea possesses all three in abundance.
Even a cursory look at Brea’s academic record will give you a sense of her superiority as a student. A native of Saraland, Alabama, she arrived at UA in 2024 with advanced placement and early college credits. Since then, she has embarked upon and excelled in an ambitious curriculum comprising a major in English and minors in Creative Writing, News Media, and Liberal Arts (Blount). In their reports to me on Brea’s academic progress during her time in the program, her Blount professors have unanimously characterized her as a wonderful student—a pronouncement that even a cursory look at her transcript corroborates. One need only talk with Brea briefly to recognize that this academic success is in part a function of innate intelligence. She processes and assimilates information rapidly, possesses excellent analytic and synthetic skills, and has a supple and retentive memory. But that is only part of the story. Unusual as her intellectual gifts are, it is Brea’s supererogatory work ethic that distinguishes her from other talented students and that enables her to achieve remarkable results in any pursuit she turns her hand to.
I am at a particular advantage to assess Brea’s work ethic in connection with her role as the Blount Program’s office intern. In this position, she performed a broad variety of tasks, all superbly. For example, she undertook a complete overhaul of our office supplies inventory, which entailed determining where to store things, creating a detailed master spreadsheet of supplies, and labelling drawers and cabinets to indicate their contents. She also worked extensively on a national conference which the Blount Program hosted at the end of October, 2025. This included the maintenance of multiple spreadsheets (to keep track of registrations, applicant proposals, contacts, invitee logistics, etc.), the design and creation of web and print graphics (posters, name tags, merchandise branding, etc.). In addition to these large projects, Brea performed a variety of miscellaneous office tasks. In everything she undertook, her work was prompt and meticulous.
What I hope will be clear from this description is Brea’s uncommon positive energy. She’s a quick study who’s remarkably adaptable. I felt I could throw almost any task at her and she’d cheerfully conquer it. She works well with minimal supervision and I was comfortable giving her considerable latitude to make decisions. She consistently exercised excellent judgment.
Worth adding, as well, that Brea is pleasure to work with. She’s upbeat, even-keeled, attentive to others, and has a wry, gentle sense of humor. Indeed, her only drawback is being so good that she can easily earn more than our program’s means enable us to pay her. In fine, then, I recommend her to you unreservedly. If I can furnish you with further information in this connection or amplify upon anything I’ve said above, I hope you will not hesitate to contact me.
Yours truly,
Frederick Whiting
Director, Blount Scholars Program
Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Fellow
Associate Professor of English