What is the Purpose of Writing?

At the beginning of the school year last year, I posed the question, what is the purpose of writing? The list the students generated was:
~To communicate with others
~Another way to talk to someone when you are too embarrassed to tell them to their face
~Keep a record of events that happen in your life (especially as you get old)
~Great way to relieve stress
~Makes the memory stronger
~Focus thoughts/ideas
~See strengths
~A way to become somebody else or live life a different way through the characters in the story you write
~Express yourself in a better way...have the time to choose words more clearly and precisely
~Understand the world around you better
~Become a stronger reader
~Have a bigger vocabulary
~Know that commas HAVE to be used so the reader doesn't get confused :)
~Become more creative
~Inform others about a variety of different topics
~Express the interesting thoughts that we have

The students did have other ideas, but the above are the most common responses to the question. What we say and write can make a difference in the world around us, therefore, it is important to understand the power that writing gives us and to use that to make a positive impact on our own lives, the lives of those that we hold close to our hearts, and on the lives of others that we have not had the opportunity to meet.