August 4, 2005 - 13:13 EDT

Recommendation in support of Thorsteinn Gestsson


June, 2005

I am delighted to recommend Thorsteinn Gestsson as a person of exceptional ability and promise. I first met Thorsteinn in Iceland when he was 14-years-old, back in the summer of 1996. (For several consecutive summers, I coached youth soccer and played soccer semi-professionally in Thorsteinn’s hometown on the north coast of Iceland.) Thorsteinn immediately impressed me. He struck me as a hardworking, honest, charismatic young man. Several years later, I recruited Thorsteinn to the high school where I currently work (dean of students). I helped his family arrange a student Visa; I also set up several American host families in and around the Philadelphia area for Thorsteinn’s one-year study-abroad program (from August of 1999 through June of 2000). During this time, Thorsteinn was a member of my junior English class. I also coached him varsity soccer, and served as his formal academic advisor. I can say objectively that Thorsteinn is a warm and affable person and a committed and hardworking student.

The William Penn Charter School is a K-12 institution located in downtown Philadelphia. We are the third oldest school in America (charter founded in 1689). 100% of our students go on to 4-year institutions here in the States. The academic program is rigorous, classes are difficult, and Penn Charter attracts some of the country’s best and brightest young men and women. Thorsteinn immediately fit right into our program. He carried a full academic load all semesters, which is unusual for our international students. Thorsteinn expressed early on that he might wish to apply to college here in the states, and he considered his year with us as a chance to prove himself.

Thorsteinn was no intellectual slouch. He more than held his own in a classroom environment where English was used as the only language. He competed on “equal ground” with his American peers, and fared quite well receiving all As and Bs on his final transcript. Indeed, it took several of his teachers several months to figure out that he was really an international student, and not a transfer from a nearby high school.

I taught Thorsteinn English literature for 50 minutes a day all year. The course was essentially a college-prep course: students read stories and wrote essays. Thorsteinn produced a chapbook in my class (like all students), which is a bound copy of a year’s worth of written work. Thorsteinn’s chapbook swelled to over one-hundred typed pages. Accordingly, Thorsteinn’s English (speaking and writing skills) improved immensely throughout the year. By spring he was able to navigate easily through the sometimes complex in-class intellectual discussions on a particular academic point, and he was also successful at impressing his friends with his command of American English and slang. Reading papers blindly (without knowing the students’ names) by the end of the year I was very often unable to tell Thorsteinn’s writing from his American counterparts.

Three qualities that immediately come to mind when I think of Thorsteinn as a student are: affable, committed, and creative. Thorsteinn cares about the quality of his work—and he cares about impressing others without manipulating or self-aggrandizing himself. Perhaps these qualities stem from the fact that his own father is a hardworking banker who chooses to live on a farm just a little ways out of town (Saudarkrokur, population about 3K, in Northern Iceland). Thorsteinn’s family is a bit quirky, but they are tremendously well-liked and respected in their tight-knit Icelandic community. This may help explain why Thorsteinn’s year in America was not merely a “time for fun and amusement.” On the contrary, Thorsteinn saw his year here as an opportunity to improve himself.

I give Thorsteinn my highest recommendation. I wrote in my college recommendation for him to Columbia (where he eventually enrolled and graduated) that he was one of the most impressive young men that I have ever taught and coached. He is charming; he enjoys a good laugh; and he has a way of looking at the world that is refreshing and unique. Perhaps his personality and work ethic are a result of the many different kinds of people Thorsteinn has met and interacted with during his yearly sojourns (9 months of education) in America over the past five years. Two elite American institutions—one private high school and one Ivy-league university—have been impressed by his character and poise. Any company or organization fortunate enough to attract him will have a real winner.

Sincerely,

Mark Franek
Dean of Students
English Teacher
The William Penn Charter School
Philadelphia, PA
215 844 3460 ext. 178