Ask, anyway

Guest columnists Ask, anyway November 12, 2026 4 min read Trending When people hear that I write handwritten letters to leaders and embassies around the world, they usually come up to me with the same question: "Do they really write back?" Here’s the answer: sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. A few have mailed signed books. Others have sent keepsakes like a vintage flag that flew on a barge in Amsterdam. I never really know what I will find when I open the mailbox -- I guess that's the fun in it! Yet after writing hundreds of letters over the past few years, my perspective has changed alongside the responses. As a teenager, I am often told to wait. That is, until I am older, in college, or once I have more experience. Only then, the advice goes, can I reach out to a leader I admire or ask the hard questions. My experience has taught me the opposite. Even one letter can start a meaningful conversation, and that can lead to an unexpected outcome, like a personal note from a U.S. diplomat in Sweden or a signed holiday card from an entire trade agency staff. That is what authentic engagement does, it begins conversations with the world that otherwise might never have happened. It’s still easy to believe that the most interesting people and opportunities exist far away from Northeast Ohio. Social media does have a unique way of making the world seem both enormous and strangely out of reach at the same time. After the hundreds of envelopes that I have sent out, I now know that the world is far more approachable than we imagine. Ambassadors, chief executives, and mayors all seem unreachable. More often than not, though, they are people just like you and me, who are willing to answer a genuine question from a young person who takes the initiative to ask. And that simple act can be strong enough to prompt a hotel in Lisbon to go so far as to embroider your name onto a custom laundry bag or a Congressman from Maryland to open his reply with "Hey Kiddo!" Not every letter receives a reply, and I've learned that is okay. The value is not measured by what comes back in the mail; it's measured by what happens when you decide to take the first step, because, let's face it, sitting down to write a letter forces patience in an age of never-ending screen time. Most importantly, reaching out reminds the next generation that they do not need to wait for opportunities to suddenly appear. Sometimes they can create them, and inspire leaders all by themselves, from their small bedroom full of flags. Adults often say young people are the future, but we are already here, ready to connect. Even so, these years of letter-writing, which I am honored to carry, serves as a lesson to all of us that the first step is always to ask, anyway. That can be one question or maybe a couple dozen. Letters happened to be my way of getting answers, but yours might be a phone call or a conversation after class. The method does not matter as much as the curiosity you bring and the sincerity you share. And while it remains true that you might receive a reply or you might not. Either way, you will have done something increasingly rare: made the world feel a little smaller, and even a little closer, than it did before you licked and sealed that envelope or picked up the phone. ETHAN SHNEYDERMAN Ethan Shneyderman is a high school junior from Northeast Ohio who has spent the last few years corresponding with hundreds of international leaders, diplomats, and public figures