This i believe...
This I Believe is a community project started in 2004 based on a popular radio series from the 1950s. Essentially, it is a platform for individuals to express their beliefs in a public dialogue. This collection of essays serves as a way for people from all walks of life to share and discuss their core values. This I Believe strives to accept essays with strong narrative coherence, communal relevance, and authentic voice. The purpose of taking on this task as a part of our Humanities class was to be able to begin to explore our own beliefs and work on clear articulation not only as an interesting way to start the year, but to prepare for the Morality & Politics of Justice project. In order to better understand the ideas behind the project, we did many activities in class to help us become more self-aware and find out what we really believe in. We reflected on five crucial events/relationships that shaped us into the person we are today, as well as answering several questions such as "Do you believe in yourself?" in order to better gauge our personal feelings. Once we had generated a list of one or two core beliefs, we wrote short 250-word credos to understand how to better articulate how we felt.
This project was an amazing way to start the year. It allowed me to explore things that are very personal to me, and practice articulating my opinions. However, it was initially very difficult for me. It isn't often that I'm encouraged to look inward and pull forth a deep sense of self. I was quite unsure of what I really believe, outside of all the external influences in my life. I am grateful for this opportunity to clearly develop an integral part of myself, namely the idea of releasing the expectations of others, and being able to share it with my peers. Having the ability to influence the thoughts of my classmates with my words was incredible. After reading my essay, several of them said, "You've made me want to start wearing mismatched socks."
Overall, I'm incredibly proud of my essay. It is one of my favorite pieces of writing that I've ever done because it is such a personal subject and it posed such a challenge. Specifically, I was very strong in my use of extended metaphor and authentic voice. "I believe that matching socks are overrated. As we clumsily stumble through the complexities of being human, we have the power to let the small things roll off our backs. Indeed, we can blaze our own trails in mismatched foot sweaters. In a sea of color-coordinated expectations, I believe in being the body that chooses to vibrantly strut against the monochromatic current." I used mismatched socks as a way to illustrate my struggles with individuality and make decisions in order to better myself. "One insignificant dash behind the leading letter of the alphabet on my report card would have toppled the precariously perched Jenga stack of my meticulously planned life. I was Mount Vesuvius in skinny jeans; the perfect storm of emotionally-crippling independence and the overwhelming desire to please. ...
I realized what I had become: a convenient blank slate, patiently waiting to be molded into the “ideal” form. I was stripping away my identity with every memorized historical date, grinding bits of myself away in the graphite that filled the bubbles on my standardized tests." The way that I write is very distinctive. It is clear from the way I phrase my sentences and my emphasis on imagery that the essay is my own. I did an exceptional job of putting myself into my essay.
I struggle with streamlining consistently in my work. As a writer, I tend to air on the side of more rather than less, which can drown my reader in overly-complex sentences and irrelevant details. My essay is still almost 200 words over the suggested word limit for NPR, so I plan on cutting my essay quite a bit. This may be difficult because I have an emotional attachment to everything that I create, this assignment in particular because of the personal nature of the subject matter. I always strive to become stronger in my writing, and I believe that being able to be more concise in my ideas is one step towards making that goal happen.
Being able to read and critique the essays of my peers truly opened my eyes to the depth and unending surprises that await in the minds of my classmates. I got a better sense for who they are as individuals, and was able to connect with them on a personal level. I have loved exploring the essays featured on the This I Believe website and furthering my open-mindedness regarding opinions. This project has exposed me to the therapeutic nature of writing about beliefs, and has allowed me to clearly develop a few of my own. Through this experience, I am now aware of my role in the greater community. I am not this abstract idea of a being that is only truly real to me; I am a roaring voice, one of millions, with thoughts, strengths, and weaknesses that are all my own. I am a marvelously unique piece of an even more miraculous planet and I must recognize the resounding wonder that I encounter on a daily basis. My purpose is to embrace the humanity that surrounds me and to know that I can make a difference.
This project was an amazing way to start the year. It allowed me to explore things that are very personal to me, and practice articulating my opinions. However, it was initially very difficult for me. It isn't often that I'm encouraged to look inward and pull forth a deep sense of self. I was quite unsure of what I really believe, outside of all the external influences in my life. I am grateful for this opportunity to clearly develop an integral part of myself, namely the idea of releasing the expectations of others, and being able to share it with my peers. Having the ability to influence the thoughts of my classmates with my words was incredible. After reading my essay, several of them said, "You've made me want to start wearing mismatched socks."
Overall, I'm incredibly proud of my essay. It is one of my favorite pieces of writing that I've ever done because it is such a personal subject and it posed such a challenge. Specifically, I was very strong in my use of extended metaphor and authentic voice. "I believe that matching socks are overrated. As we clumsily stumble through the complexities of being human, we have the power to let the small things roll off our backs. Indeed, we can blaze our own trails in mismatched foot sweaters. In a sea of color-coordinated expectations, I believe in being the body that chooses to vibrantly strut against the monochromatic current." I used mismatched socks as a way to illustrate my struggles with individuality and make decisions in order to better myself. "One insignificant dash behind the leading letter of the alphabet on my report card would have toppled the precariously perched Jenga stack of my meticulously planned life. I was Mount Vesuvius in skinny jeans; the perfect storm of emotionally-crippling independence and the overwhelming desire to please. ...
I realized what I had become: a convenient blank slate, patiently waiting to be molded into the “ideal” form. I was stripping away my identity with every memorized historical date, grinding bits of myself away in the graphite that filled the bubbles on my standardized tests." The way that I write is very distinctive. It is clear from the way I phrase my sentences and my emphasis on imagery that the essay is my own. I did an exceptional job of putting myself into my essay.
I struggle with streamlining consistently in my work. As a writer, I tend to air on the side of more rather than less, which can drown my reader in overly-complex sentences and irrelevant details. My essay is still almost 200 words over the suggested word limit for NPR, so I plan on cutting my essay quite a bit. This may be difficult because I have an emotional attachment to everything that I create, this assignment in particular because of the personal nature of the subject matter. I always strive to become stronger in my writing, and I believe that being able to be more concise in my ideas is one step towards making that goal happen.
Being able to read and critique the essays of my peers truly opened my eyes to the depth and unending surprises that await in the minds of my classmates. I got a better sense for who they are as individuals, and was able to connect with them on a personal level. I have loved exploring the essays featured on the This I Believe website and furthering my open-mindedness regarding opinions. This project has exposed me to the therapeutic nature of writing about beliefs, and has allowed me to clearly develop a few of my own. Through this experience, I am now aware of my role in the greater community. I am not this abstract idea of a being that is only truly real to me; I am a roaring voice, one of millions, with thoughts, strengths, and weaknesses that are all my own. I am a marvelously unique piece of an even more miraculous planet and I must recognize the resounding wonder that I encounter on a daily basis. My purpose is to embrace the humanity that surrounds me and to know that I can make a difference.