Oct.

22, 2018

To Whom It May Concern,

I’m writing to express my wholehearted support for Alex Van Valkenburgh as he moves
forward to start his career. As his supervisor during her student internship with
Western’s Office of Communications and Marketing, I met with Alex frequently to assign
responsibilities and discuss his work. Simply put, Alex’s writing is tight, focused and
very readable.

As an intern in our office, Alex had a number of responsibilities. He worked me on a

variety of PR-based writing, both for internal and external consumption. As a
Journalism/PR major here at WWU, Alex brought a rich knowledge of news angles,
crisp leads and the value of AP Style. He worked with me on internal pieces about
research at Western, events, faculty and staff profiles, and more. He is self-motivated,
attentive to detail, and skilled at both independent and collaborative work.

Beyond his editorial skills, Alex impressed with his maturity, attention to the small things
that take stories to the next level, willingness to take on an at-times crippling work load,
and an intuitive feel for scheduling and time management. He is quiet is quiet and soft-
spoken but lights up when talking about ideas and the potential for good storytelling.

In closing, I’d like to reiterate my strong support for Alex. He is incredibly talented and
would be a very worthy addition to any job he is a finalist for. Please don’t hesitate to
contact me for any further information.

Sincerely,

John Thompson
Assistant Director
Office of Communications and Marketing
Western Washington University
360.650.4502