Mustang Messenger Spring 2014 | Page 26

John Czajkowski '83 at the National Cancer Institute, where he has worked as the Deputy Director for Management My McNamara Moment by John Czajkowski '83 W hen I graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 1987, I decided I wanted to go to law school. I had enjoyed my undergraduate experience and felt my talents would best be served in the realm of public service. A necessary portion of applying was presenting a letter of recommendation. I had done well enough on my LSATs to go where I wanted, but needed some strong letters of recommendation to complete my package. 26 THE MUSTANG MESSENGER Growing up in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, I chose to ask one of my neighbors – Arthur “Bud” Marshall – for a letter. Mr. Marshall had recently ended his 25-year tenure as the Maryland State Attorney for Prince George’s County. Despite being neighbors for many years, though, he had no idea who I was. When I walked into his office, he gave me sort of a puzzled look as he reviewed my very lean resume. He said it in nicer terms, but the gist of what I remember his reaction being was, “I have never seen you before, so why are you asking me for a letter of recommendation?” I explained to him who I was, where I lived, where I had gone to college, and how I wanted to go to law school. I also shared with him that he and I knew many of the same people, even though we had never personally interacted before. He seemed impressed by my aspirations and, rather bluntly, asked about my criminal record. I stumbled at the question. “Criminal record?” I asked. I offered up that I’d been pulled over for a speeding ticket once, but other than that, mine was a bit of a dull story — especially when it came to criminal transgressions. He stared at me and, dropping his voice, told me, “I’m going to run your record. If you really grew up in that neighborhood and don’t have a criminal record, I’ll write you a letter of recommendation just for that.” And he did. Nearly 30 years later, I still have four original, hand-written copies of the letter he wrote. I keep them in my THE MUSTANG MESSENGER 27