Dear Anna
In your last letter you asked me to tell you about my pets. OK, I can talk for hours on this topic. I have a dog; his name is La boule. That’s a French word which means a ball. He is a pug and he is very funny. I also have a hamster. His name is Masha. Not a usual name for a hamster, you say, but he is very curious and smart enough. I would also like to have a cat, but perhaps not now.
I’m fine, no changes since the last time. I’m passing my exams next week. After that, I’m looking forward to going abroad. I like traveling a lot. I’ve visited just a few European countries but I fell in love with the Old world. My dream is to go to Paris. This is the city of love, croissants and haut-couture. I think every person should see it and not necessarily die after it!
You told me that you had been to many countries. Tell me about your greatest trip! Have you been to Paris, did you like it? What are you going to do this summer? Where would you like to go?
I’m so happy that your sister married! Wish her and her husband a very good luck! Hope the wedding was as gorgeous as the bride was!
Could you send me some photos?
Sorry, I have to go, my parents are leaving on holidays, I need to see them off.
Waiting for your letter,
Yours truly,
Masha
Although a number of personal traits are developed during university studies, some human qualities cannot be nurtured through this academic experience. I agree with this opinion and will support my position by considering both sides of the statement.
Firstly, university experience can be seen as an effective platform for developing the personal qualities that may help a student to succeed professionally in the future. Thus, self-organization, both short-term and long-term planning, and punctuality are just a few examples of character traits that young people normally train during their university years as those are critical for students to perform well academically. Expanding intellect is another key quality that stems from university coursework because it inevitably shapes personality and determines future career and life path for a student.
However, it should also be noted that personal qualities needed for effective communication, known as soft skills, are not usually directly nurtured by tertiary studies. One group of such qualities facilitate contact with the outer world and may include morality, kindness or consideration; these are all cultivated beyond academia. In addition, university can hardly develop the qualities that define a person’s general life perception, namely emotional competence, sense of purpose or self-motivation, which are products of other factors and circumstances not related to formal education.
As shown above, not every personal quality can be acquired as a result of time spent at a university. Qualities related to professional ethic can be developed through academic studies, but a realm of soft skills is rather adopted from life experience.