<p>A few years ago, after I interviewed an applicant for MIT, I received a thank you card from the interviewee. It was hand written calligraphy, and I was very impressed by the letter and the envelope. As a matter of fact, I showed it to my kids (who were around 12 to 20 at the time) as an example of the lost art of excellent handwriting, because it looked as if it had been written by John Hancock or Thomas Jefferson. I was all the more impressed because this student (an Asian male) had only been in the US a few years, and I mentioned the thank you letter in the student’s evaluation to MIT. I had already been very favorably impressed by this student in the interview (he had mentioned during the interview that he enjoyed doing calligraphy, as well as some type of Asian drawing, in his spare time). Unfortunately, this student was not accepted at MIT, but competition among international students is very high. Nevertheless, I still have the letter because I think it is “cool.” They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Some people might think sending such a letter is a bit over the top, but I really liked it.</p>