There you are with a big smile and a warm, magnetic spirit—people can be forgiven for missing it. For you aren’t going to brag. You aren’t going to directly discuss it. But pay close enough attention, and your deep connection with the Cardinal Virtues is obvious.

Given how much Professor Atkinson discussed The Republic, it’s amazing that he never mentioned the Cardinal Virtues: prudence, justice, courage, temperance. To compensate for his oversight, we will learn about them by first jumping back to an early class with xxxxxxxxx. At that time, students knew each other, but there wasn’t yet the security of really being known and firmly established. Which made your performance in the Shih v. Starbucks discussion that much more impressive. The whole class went against you. Without an ounce of defensiveness, you held firm. It does not matter that you ended up being correct—this was courage and the most impressive act I witnessed as a 1L.

Next, let’s hop to xxxxxxxxx’s spring class, and you probably already know where I’m going. I can hear you downplaying it. I just didn’t want others to be screwed. I knew I had been skipped. Of course, in that downplay we see justice. Volunteering to take a case may seem easy, instinctive to you. Or perhaps you’ll claim there was also some self-interest in wanting participation points. Doesn’t matter. Acts don’t have to be purely driven by justice to count as justice. And do note that even after you were praised by xxxxxxxxx nobody else copied your behavior. You made it easy for them! Still, person after person was skipped and silently passed burdens onto others. People love talking about justice only to wilt when given the opportunity to practice it. Not you.

Then there is a private conversation that I didn’t have the pleasure of witnessing, but that I’m quite sure involved courage, prudence, and temperance. You made a job choice that you knew would disappoint someone. First, there was courage to tell her face-to-face. In an age of “ghosting,” this was an uncommon act. (Again, it matters not that there may have been some self-interest involved: every action involves a non-zero amount of self-interest.) Second, you wisely sought counsel, considered pros/cons, and then prudently decided. Others may not agree with your prudence and you can accept that. In fact, an acceptance that you will never please everyone engenders prudence—if you are living only to please others, you have lost the ability to make optimal decisions for your own fulfillment. Last, there was likely temperance in your response to someone crying and saying you are making a bad decision. Instead of surrendering into apology or false promises, you listened openly without needlessly arguing or wavering.

This is all to say that I feel quite lucky to have landed in the same section as you. I hope you have a grand summer, and I look forward to admiring more Cardinal Virtues from you in the future.