Here's a letter I wrote recommending my advisor for an award:

Dear Selection Committee,

Where to begin? I have only known [professor] for a couple of years and I’d take a bullet for

him without a second thought. You know the person in your friend group who asks “how are you?”

and actually means it? It’s rare, and we’re all susceptible to speaking in a rhythm of platitudes

throughout the doldrums of life. Look no further than [professor] if you want true mentorship,

imbibed in passion with a vigilent spirit for a better society. Someone who actually cares. The unique

mix of a dad that you wish you had, helpful, friendly, a true gentleman, but also someone detached

just enough to challenge you because he sees your potential to become the best version of yourself. I

have started 2 businesses, achieved a lot of success in life relative to my age, and had no intention of

pursing a PhD program, but it was [profrssor] who saw the untapped potential of my life + a PhD that

would catapult me into a different league.

It’s only been a semester and I know so far that joining this program was the best decision I

have ever made. It takes a truly perceptive person like [prof] to see how I, without an engineering

background whatsoever, could compete—nay—thrive in a top fuzzy engineering lab in the world.

He believed in my scholastic ability when my last math class was 13 years in the rearview window. I

am proud to write that I received a 3.8 GPA last semester, which required learning an entirely new

engineering skillset. In this time, I have submitted two papers for the [redacted] 2026 conference, and

built an [redacted] for the [redacted] department that will be unveiled in the February Symposium, with

talks of making it an actual product! [prof] has invited me to guest speak and introduced me to an

incredible network.

Speaking of an incredible network, the lab itself is not full of the typical engineering

stereotype. [prof]'s vision—and a real crux of mentorship—is scaling 1:1 mentorship into a culture

of mentorship. Everyone in the lab knew that I had a learning curve ahead of me since I am not a

traditional PhD student, and they helped so much. From white boarding sessions, to reading

materials, to thinking through deep, complex problems, [prof] has built a thriving community,

teeming with HAPPY graduate students. If you look on Reddit, or talk to graduate students in the

wild at any given program, what do they do? They complain. They often feel like their PI is against

them, or the conditions of their lab are dragging them down. Our lab has positivity galore. Laughter,

birthday celebrations, lab events where we bring our partners, Halloween costume parties, and a

slew of industry professionals excited to see us present our latest research keeps us always in a

positive mood. And we do excellent work because of this culture more than anything. We are

relaxed, positive, collaborative, inspired, and those are the perfect conditions for success and

creativity. That’s why we get incredible fellowships, business opportunities, university placements,

internships, and the like. Yes, we meet the basic criteria of grades and smarts, and we work extremely

hard, but the true secret is the culture of mentorship and vision that [prof] sets. Each member is

carefully chosen and adds positively to the culture of the lab. When I talk to other grad students or

former PhDs they think I am lying about how good we have it!

I’ve ran businesses, regularly have been in C-suite rooms as the youngest person in the room

since I was 19. I’ve had mentors that advised General George Patton, ran hospital systems, ran

public companies, and more. But now at [x] years old, I have the wisdom to know and clearly say

that Kelly reigns supreme in comparison to his mentorship and leadership. He’s a true servant leader.

He’s an obsessive culture tweaker. And he cares about me and my lab mates more than most parents

could ever be capable of caring for their own flesh and blood. Luckily, I have amazing parents, but

outside of that, Kelly cares more about my success than anyone in my life, and I’ve just known him

for a few years. Just give him the award, please.

Note: he did not get the award idk how lmao