A Cover Letter to Remember

I was cleaning out my harddrive the other day and came across a cover letter I wrote back in my days of unemployment. I dont' think I ever had the gall to send it out with my resume, but now I sort of regret it...

I was born in Madison, Wisconsin. Dad managed rock bands; Mom worked in insurance. Despite their similarities, they divorced when I was eight. Every summer up until I was 21, I spent at the pool. I was obsessed with swimming and planned on competing in college until a back injury and the desire to associate myself socially with students out of the water turned my focus away from the pool. I still sport a permanent flip flop tan and attended my college classes at the wearing the wardrobe of an athlete – a baggy heather-grey sweat suit and hair up in a ponytail – but it has been over four years since I’ve swam more than a few consecutive laps.

When I got to college, it was assumed I would trade in my goggles and towel for a beer mug. While I did manage to learn how to navigate through the non-swimmer social scene, I mainly filled the void of the pool with academia. I wasn’t a nerd per se, but I will admit to more than once being the only student in an entire lecture hall to have read for class.

My freshman year, I was completely gung-ho about being a doctor. As a kid I obsessively watched Law and Order and ER, and the two shows greatly influenced my career choices. But I had to pick between the two, and eventually determined medicine was the way to go. The appeal of wearing pajamas to work everyday won out over business suits. Plus, the doctors on ER get a whole hour to showcase their skills while the Law and Order prosecutors have to split time with the detectives. Once I started taking biology and chemistry classes though, I realized my rationale for a career path was rather flawed. I hated equations and set answers. I wanted to help create my own solutions, not follow someone else’s theories. Really, my lack of appreciation for hundreds of years of research in the sciences pulled me into advertising.

I was smart enough to know that medicine was not for me. Thanks to my years at the pool, I can guarantee I can be the first one at work in the morning. You can’t even see my flip flop tan when I’m wearing heels, plus I’m far to young to be jaded by the business world. Given these extremely important variables, you should really give me a shot.