Dr. Judith Freidenberg

Department of Anthropology

1111 Woods Hall

University of Maryland

College Park, MD 20740

Dear Dr. Freidenberg,

I'm absolutely thrilled to be selected as the 2008 Sebastian Herbstein Memorial Fund Scholarship recipient! It is a great honor to be recognized among such talented competition. It's an unspoken joke here at Princeton that everyone who graduates goes into one of three fields:

finance, law, or medicine. The road to professional writing is more of an unbeaten path, one with far less stability than the other three.

Reading up on Sebastian, its clear he had the courage, confidence, and conviction to trek down that mysterious path with his dream firmly in mind. Besides our similarly unkempt choice in hairstyle, I found the most connection with Sebastian's love for telling stories to groups of friends. There is nothing more rewarding then telling a great story that fills the room with bellowing laughter.

Like Sebastian, I want to explore the art of storytelling. I have a deep love for movies, and the feelings they can inspire within us. My dream is to make my stories come alive through film. But making movies is not a cheap endeavor. I plan to use the money this fund graciously gives story creators to buy the necessary equipment required to bring my screenplays to life. I have written a few, and can't wait to get cracking on them. But even more important than the monetary compensation, this recognition has instilled a confidence in the quality of my writing. It gives me something to remember on those doubtful days all writers experience when they wonder if their work is good enough.

That award is priceless.

I thank you once again for this honor. I am incredibly grateful.

Sincerely,

Robert Gati

Zeta Chapter

Princeton University