Back in early 2020, I sent my first pen pal letter to a friend from college.  Typically, we talk every couple of months, but COVID appeared to be the perfect reason to start writing. Not only was it a creative outlet to take my mind off the stresses of graduate school every couple of weeks, but it also brightened my day whenever I received a letter in the mail. Sending a letter to those we care about is a long-lost art.

With the rise of technology in the past few decades, most of the communication I have with friends is through social media. I am sure there are many people like myself in that regard, whose contact with friends mainly consists of liking someone’s most recent Instagram post or commenting on the latest Snapchat story. These mediums have several benefits: they are quick, easy and cheap. They help connect people across time zones and permit communication with friends currently residing in other countries. But even with all the benefits social media provides, the interactions with friends are often short and superficial. Communicating in such a matter only grazes the surface of what is needed to build and sustain friendships over the long haul. I cannot even count the number of friends I have on Facebook to whom I no longer feel comfortable reaching out via direct message to see how they are doing, which is strange. Maybe that is just me, but without actual deep conversations, many relationships start to wither away.

To combat this, I started communicating the old fashion way: through the postal service. Yes, the stamps needed to send a letter in the continental United States cost a staggering 55 cents (less if you send a postcard). And, indeed, the time to receive mail from an international destination is nearly a month. Yet sometimes nothing can compare to a well-thought-out, time-consuming, handwritten letter to someone. I recently read an article in the March issue of Poets & Writers Magazine by Emma Hine. It covered the importance of reaching out to people during the pandemic by becoming their pen pal. She stated that knowing someone else cares during a pandemic is indispensable, because remaining stuck at home can feel isolating. While many of the restrictions are gradually ending throughout the states, of those who lost a year to the quarantine activities such as binge-watching tv shows and getting a mediocre number of daily steps, many still feel some side effects.

One way with which Hines suggested making a positive impact was through a pen pal service. Specifically, she noted an online pen pal platform aptly named Penpallooza. Now boasting over 10K participants, Penpallooza swiftly matches users with pen pals from around the globe (including breathtaking and distant countries like Slovakia, Niger and Japan). Whether you choose to participate in a pen pal service with strangers or instead reach out to a past friend like me, keeping in contact with others is beneficial, not only to others, but to yourself as well. There is nothing that can compare to that feeling of getting a letter in the mail. It reminds you how special you are, how you are not alone in the struggles you are facing and how downright spectacular even your little victories are. When was the last time you got a letter in the mail? And how did it make you feel?

If you would like to participate in Penpallooza, you can find the link below:

https://penpalooza.com

Vanessa Davis is a master's student in the Department of Public Service and Administration.