To the president of the University of Tokyo, Makoto Gonokami,

It is my utmost pleasure to recommend Martin White for matriculation to the Graduate Program of
Environmental Sciences (GPES) at the University of Tokyo. As the president of SUNY Old Westbury, one
of my greatest concerns is the university. Since attending SUNY Old Westbury in 2011, Martin has
worked tirelessly to improve the university in a multitude of novel ways up until his graduation in 2015.

Martin has tutored countless students who cannot afford regular tutoring programs, he has taken on
multiple mentees in order to assist them through the collegiate process and their future careers, and he
has even extended his services to the Science Technology Entry Program (STEP) which is a program
designed to help students who cannot normally afford other programs of this caliber. Time and time
again, Martin has demonstrated himself as someone who is passionate, adaptable, ambitious, and
intelligent. He has gone out of his way to accomplish these services to the community, even while
having an incredible workload. There are countless stories of people breaking with half of what he has
had to deal, and on top of that he has added more work for himself.

As someone who has encountered a lot of strife throughout his lifetime, Martin is the epitome of what
determination and will can lead to. While he could use all of his pain and hardship as an excuse, he has
learned from his experiences and has even helped other people deal with them. Martin has helped
troubled students going through loss of family members and parents, and helping students with time
management and counseling just to name a few. Even while helping others, he studiously undertook his
college courses, numerous part time jobs, and even laboratory research. This is the main reason why I
cannot overstate the fact that Martin is an excellent candidate. There are times in life in which it is
absolutely necessary to go above and beyond for someone else, but in many cases he goes even further
than that. Despite pushing himself so far, he has always been there for other people and is incredibly
focused on improving himself. These are qualities that you will rarely find in other individuals.

Martin has also demonstrated an ability in which I have found is imperative for students, teachers, and
leaders alike. Martin has the uncanny ability to inspire other people. As he constantly pushes his way
through life, he shows other people that they can do it as well. He gives them the necessary information
so they can also improve themselves. This is also another rare quality. Often, you see people who have
come through so much become unwilling to extend a hand to other people who are currently
experiencing the same situation. They become blinded by their success and leave everyone behind. I
believe his method of thinking is what will allow us to not only improve ourselves, but promote other
people to improving the world itself. There are many times in which other students have decided to
continue their career and face the never-ending battle in front of them, because of how valiantly he
presses on. He has inspired more students to go to graduate school and even start college for the first
time.

In closing, as someone who exudes professionalism, positivity, rationality, intelligence, and tenacity
Martin is, without a doubt, an impressive candidate. Through it all, he even managed to get his first full-
time job in Japan. He didn’t speak the language, he didn’t know anyone, and he had never been there
before, but he worked there for just over a year and managed to accomplish even more. With this in
mind, I highly encourage you to accept his candidacy. As he has demonstrated the necessary qualities
required by tenfold.

Calvin Butts
President of SUNY Old Westbury