​Today, I replied to 6 letters. I promised I'd share with fellow members how I went from getting zero replies to actually getting letters back.

I've been in the organization for about 6 years, but only had 3 regular pen friends . After they were released, I kept writing, but got no reply at all - like sending mail to another planet.

After two years of this, I wanted to quit and lost all confidence in my writing.

During the training session a letter was shared and I changed my mindset and gave me the chance to completely change my approach.

In my recent letters, I explained our volunteer roles instead of talking about myself. I used a super casual, conversational Cantonese style, made a few jokes, asked simple things like if it was hot in the institution and shared my own MBTI result.

I dropped heavy phrases like "I'm always here to listen." 

Surprisingly, almost everyone wrote back, and some even guessed I was born in the 90s! 

For non-repliers, I'd try once more with a nice postcard to avoid a long essay, which usually worked.

I'm sharing this because I know I wasn't the only one doubting. Writing to pen friends helped me regain my confidence.

Keep going, everyone! 💪