这是一个常见的问题。事实上，我的学生甚至在毕业前就开始问这个问题。用一位读者的话说：

"I've been out of school for two years now but am now applying to grad school. I have been teaching English abroad for the past two years so I don't have the opportunity to meet with any of my former professors in person and to be honest I never really cultivated a deep relationship with any of them. I want to send an email to my former academic major adviser to see if she can write a letter for me. I knew her through all of college and took two classes with her including a very small seminar class. I think of all my professors she knows me the best. How should I approach the situation?"

老师们习惯于被要求写信的前学生接近。这并不罕见，所以不要害怕。你联系的方式很重要。你的目标是重新介绍自己，提醒教员你作为学生的工作，向她介绍你目前的工作，并要求写信。就我个人而言，我认为电子邮件是最好的，因为它允许教授在回复之前停下来查阅你的记录——成绩、成绩单等等。你的电子邮件应该说什么？保持简短。例如，考虑下面的电子邮件：

Dear Dr. Advisor, My name is X. I graduated from MyOld University two years ago. I was a Psychology major and you were my advisor. In addition, I was in your Applied Basketball class in Fall 2000, and Applied Basketball II in Spring 2002. Since graduating I have been teaching English in X country. I am planning on returning to the US soon and am applying for graduate study in Psychology, specifically, PhD programs in Subspecialty. I'm writing to ask if you would consider writing a letter of recommendation on my behalf. I am not in the US so cannot visit you in person, but perhaps we could schedule a phone call to catch up and so I can seek your guidance. Sincerely, Student

如果你有旧文件的话，主动提出寄它们。当你与教授商议时，询问教授是否认为她能代表你写一封有用的信。

你可能会感到尴尬，但请放心，这不是一个不寻常的情况。祝你好运