Letters of Rec options

[scholarloller]

I am wanting to apply to PhD programs in a couple of years (in the Humanities—specifically Media/Film Studies) and honestly, of all the application requirements, it’s the Letters of Rec that I am most overwhelmed by.

The main suggestions are always, of course, your college professors, but it’s been a few years since I’ve been in college (in a somewhat related but also pretty different field) and I didn’t have a particularly strong relationship with many professors, and most of them aren’t even teaching anymore. There’s really, tops, one LOR I could probably comfortably get from there, and they were a visiting guest teacher.

I could probably scrounge up a couple of letters from various people now, but since I know it’ll be a few years anyway, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for how to think ahead and possibly lay the groundwork for some good ones.

I’ve thought about taking classes at a Community College and seeing if that could help at all, but also wonder if doing CC classes after getting a degree might just look a bit odd?

Would getting more involved with volunteering at related orgs and making connections there be helpful? Or at the (industry-related) local publication I sometimes write for?

Any tips or suggestions are appreciated