Sample answer 1 10, Jalan Mega Minang, Taman Minang Sari, 68000 Ampang, Selangor.

7th September 2009 Dear Lina, It was lovely to hear from you. All of us miss you very much. Mum and Dad are glad that you are slowly adjusting to life in a boarding school. In your letter you complained about the compulsory co-curricular activities. Well, let me tell you that you can reap many benefits through active participation in these activities. Firstly, the various cocurricular activities help you become a better person (point 1). Participation in uniformed units, clubs and societies, sports and games will help you discover your talents and develop your character. You will become a more confident and well-rounded person. The strict rules and good behaviour expected of you as a member of a uniformed unit will instil discipline (point 2) in you. This is important if you are to become a law-abiding citizen. Besides, you will learn good values (point 3) through the various co-curricular activities. You will learn about the importance of cooperation (point 4) and respect for others (point 5). These values are very important in a multi-racial society like ours. You have always said that you admire great leaders like Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln. Well, cocurricular activities will certainly help you to develop leadership skills (point 6). There will be ample opportunities to enable you to become a good leader. Besides learning how to plan events, you will learn to organise activities (point 7). Sometimes, you might even have to handle a challenging situation and this will teach you how to make on-the-spot decisions. More importantly, co-curricular activities provide you with many opportunities (point 8) to help you develop social skills (point 9). As you know, a person with good social skills has an edge these days. Extra-curricular activities will also provide you with opportunities to take part in competitions (point 10) at various levels. Schools usually select their representatives for competitions at zone, state or national level by looking at their students performance in school-level competitions. These activities also keep you healthy (point 11). Who knows, you might finally shed your baby fat! Most importantly, you will get a good testimonial (point 12) if you are active in co-curricular activities. This will definitely boost your chances when applying for a scholarship or a job. There is no need for you to worry that participation in these activities will affect your grades. On the contrary, it has been proven that students who are actively involved usually do well academically. I hope you will take the opportunities co-curricular activities provide to experience new things and discover your strengths.

I have to stop here. I have to study for my trial examination, which is in two weeks time. Till I hear from you, take care. Your loving sister, Shuhada