Whenever I thought about college in high school, the first thing that came to my mind was how hard it was going to be to leave my family. My mom, dad, little sister, and I have always been close, and I consider my family to be my best friends. The first few days here at UGA, I thought about them constantly, and when I saw this assignment, I knew I would be writing a letter to them. It was really interesting to see the differences between texting and talking to them on the phone, which I do pretty frequently, and physically writing out what I wanted to tell them.

While writing my letter, I realized how much easier it was to remember all of the new things I had to share. When talking on the phone, I would always forget to say something, or even not have a lot to say at all. Writing out my thoughts in a letter came surprisingly naturally, even though so few people write letters today.

While writing, I even found myself more excited to tell them about what’s happening in my life, because I knew how happy a surprise letter from me would make them. I realized how impersonal texting really is, and that calling them, and even writing to them occasionally, is much more special and would mean a lot to them.

There’s something about receiving a letter, and even just seeing a person’s familiar handwriting, that makes you happier. Cell phones are so accessible, that texting and calling are effortless. Sitting down and taking the time to write down your thoughts and share your life with someone lets them know that you’re thinking about them. It shows them that you care enough to spend time on sharing with them.

In a way, maybe it’s not such a bad thing that writing letters has become such a rare art. Today, when you write a letter, it’s heartfelt and detailed, just because it is so uncommon. If we still wrote letters today as much as others did when writing them was necessary, they would seem like a part of daily life. Maybe the rarity of writing letters just makes them all the more special.