It always makes Melinda Leiden’s day when she tears open a letter from her pen pal Annie, who is 70 years her senior.

The first-year student Recreation Therapy student has been writing to Annie, a resident at Ina Grafton Gage Village in St. Catharines, as part of her class assignment. She was among 57 students to participate in the Pen Pal Project at the College during the winter term, writing handwritten letters to residents at local seniors homes – Grafton as well as Heidehof Home for the Aged and Grafton in St. Catharines. This year, however, the class project came to a sudden end before the students had an opportunity to meet their pen pals, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That didn’t stop Leiden from continuing her correspondence with Annie.

“I wanted to keep writing letters to my pen pal because it was something I really enjoyed,” said Leiden. “It was nice because it was something positive for both of us to look forward to – especially with everything going on in the world of COVID-19.”

The Fenwick resident enjoys sharing her life as a busy college student through handwritten letters – which she often adorns with stickers or clipart in an effort to delight the recipient – to her 93-year-old pen pal. When she receives one in return, she can’t wait to hear what Annie has to say.

“Annie is a very interesting lady. She can speak four different languages, which is amazing. She is a very active lady participating in many activities at her home,” said Leiden. “For example, she had seven siblings and I only have one. She was a teacher and had 60 children in her class. Today class sizes are a lot smaller.

Leiden also values Annie’s words of wisdom.

“She gave me some good advice, ‘get to know the people around you. Talk with them and learn from them.'”

At the same time, she finds it rewarding to feel that she is having a positive impact on Annie’s life as well.

“She is the only one left in her family,” said Leiden. “I feel she must enjoy my letters as much as I enjoy hers because she wanted to keep writing to me.”

Because she would not have the opportunity to meet Annie at the Pen Pal Social – which would have been held at the end of the winter term – Leiden decided to send Annie a photo of herself along with a letter. Annie returned the gesture – with a twist.

“She sent me a picture of herself holding the picture of me. I thought that was so cute. It made me feel like she enjoyed receiving my picture,” she said. “I am looking forward to meeting Annie in person once the Coronavirus is over.”

Aspiring to work in a retirement or long-term care home in the future, Leiden found the Pen Pal Project a valuable one.

“This is a beneficial project because you get to learn from them and they tell you what it’s like to live in a retirement home,” she said.  “It shows you that anyone at any age can connect with each other.”

Recreation Therapy professor Jackie Frail knows all too well the merits of the program. She launched the Pen Pal Project at NC in 2018, which began with students exchanging letters with residents at Heidehof and has since expanded to include other seniors’ residences.

For five weeks, students are tasked with writing to their senior pen pals focusing on a different pillar of wellbeing each week – gratitude, compassion, connection and happiness. In doing so, they explore how the act of writing about these ideas to another person increases these emotions. They also complete a pre- and post-tests each week related to their assigned topic, to determine if their scores improved.

“This project is the highlight of the Applied Positive Strategies course because it is a culmination of the learning that has transpired over the semester and applied to the real world,” said Frail.

Frail noted that the abrupt end to the project this year left many students feeling disappointed and, frankly, sad that they would not be able to continue building their relationship with their pen pal. However, when the opportunity to continue writing to their pen pal outside of the scheduled assignment was offered, she noted that many students jumped at the chance.

“I think that this desire to continue to connect with others is a testament to the deeply caring and compassionate students we have in this program,” Frail said.