Editor’s Note: This article is part of our series of highlighted exemplar recognitions. See our introduction post for all the details, or view all the posts in this series. This article was written by Eastern Pennsylvania Area Rep Ilan Seid-Green.

AJ Kerrigan is a Level 2 Judge from New Jersey and currently attending Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His recognitions came from Nicholas Sabin, Jared Sylva, James Kerr, and James Eveland, who had the following to say:

AJ, it has been a pleasure to come to know you as a colleague over the past few months. What I especially respect and admire about you is your persistence in receiving feedback — particularly, critical feedback — as a means to your improvement as a judge. At each event we’ve worked together, you’ve wanted to know what you could do better. I’ve no doubt that you will continue to improve, and I’ll be happy to help as best I can. – Nicholas Sabin

Dear AJ, I have been very impressed with your development and self awareness as you have grown into a very exiting Level 2. From before you tested at GP Atlantic City you were already earning a reputation as someone who was smart, capable, and thoughtful in discussions. Since your promotion, you have continued to seek out feedback and opportunities to test yourself and grow. Throughout this process, the most impressive thing I have seen is a relentless self awareness and ability to process mistakes and avoid them in the future. Keep up the good work! I am excited to see what happens next. – Jared Sylva

AJ, every time that I work with you I am very impressed with your hustle on the floor, you make it to more judge calls per event than anyone I can think of. Combine this with your rules knowledge, and I am happy to see you on any event staff that I am also on, great work! – James Kerr

AJ helped me on a PPTQ that I was not planning on judging. The original head judge had to cancel due to a medical emergency and I took over the event 90 minutes before the event started. This PPTQ wound up being 108 players, massive compared to the average PPTQ in the area. AJ and another judge stepped up to help me out with this event, instead of playing. AJ did a great job on the floor all day and was extremely well prepared to judge despite being there to play as well. He did a great job working with the players and managing their needs and working with them. In addition, he took initiative in many of the daily tasks which was a great help. Without AJ’s help, the event would not have been as much of a success as it was. Thank you AJ for all your hard work. – James Eveland

Here’s what Ilan Seid-Green had to say about this recommendation:

AJ is an L2 from New Jersey who currently lives in Philadelphia. AJ has worked with Mystical Tutor to create questions for future lessons, and does data collection for the Customer Service project. If you saw the Google Form about the BFZ Prerelease, you can thank AJ for it! He is also Judge Managing the upcoming Eternal Extravaganza Satellite Series, and will be Head Judging the SCG Standard Classic in Philadelphia in February. As you can see, AJ does a lot for the Judge Program, and has been growing and learning at a rapid pace. He works hard and is good at what he does, and he always does it with a lighthearted attitude that makes everybody feel welcome.