this i believe short essay

This I Believe Essay

In the realm of personal expression and introspection, the “This I Believe” essay stands as a testament to the power of individual beliefs and narratives. Rooted in the context of personal experiences and convictions, these essays provide a platform for individuals to articulate their core principles, values, and perspectives. Through the use of various literary devices and elements , authors craft narratives that illuminate their unique outlook on life. In this article, we will delve into the definition of a This I Believe essay, present a step-by-step guide on how to craft one, address common questions, and explore the essence of this expressive form.

1. High School This I Believe Essay Example

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2. Sample This I Believe Essay Example

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3. Student This I Believe Essay Example

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4. Middle School This I Believe Essay Example

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5. This I Believe Essay Topic Example

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6. This I Believe Essay Life Example

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7. This I Believe Essay Overview Example

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8. This I Believe Essay Steps Example

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9. This I Believe Essay Friendship Example

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10. Sports This I Believe Essay Example

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11. This I Believe Essay Rubric Example

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12. This I Believe Personal Essay Example

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13. This I Believe Essay Writing Example

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14. This I Believe Essay Statement Example

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15. God This I Believe Essay Example

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16. This I Believe Essay Brief Example

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17. This I Believe Essay Thesis Statement Example

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18. This I Believe Essay Speech Example

19. this i believe essay college example.

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20. This I Believe Essay Lesson Plan Example

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21. This I Believe Essay Music Example

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22. Faith This I Believe Essay Example

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23. Reflection This I Believe Essay Example

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24. This I Believe Immigration Essay Example

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25. This I Believe Love Essay Example

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26. This I Believe Dream Essay Example

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27. This I Believe Power Essay Example

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28. This I Believe Essay Prompt Example

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29. This I Believe Essay Peer Review Example

30. Elements of This I Believe Essay Example

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What is a This I Believe Essay?

A This I Believe essay is a written composition that encapsulates an individual’s personal beliefs, values, and philosophies. Often reflective and intimate in nature, these essays offer readers insight into the author’s subjective understanding of the world. They provide an opportunity to explore the depth of one’s convictions, making use of various literary devices and characteristics to convey a sense of authenticity and sincerity. Through the exploration of individual experiences and convictions, these essays aim to connect with readers on a personal and emotional level.

How to Write a This I Believe Essay

Step 1: choose your core belief.

At the heart of your essay lies your core belief. Choose a belief that holds personal significance and represents your worldview. This belief should be something you feel passionately about and can articulate convincingly.

Step 2: Develop a Compelling Context

Create a context for your belief by providing background information. Explain why this belief is important to you and how it has shaped your experiences and outlook on life. A relatable context will engage your readers and make your essay more relatable.

Step 3: Employ Effective Literary Devices

Incorporate literary devices to enhance the impact of your essay. Metaphors, similes, and anecdotes can help convey your belief in a vivid and relatable manner. Consider how these devices can strengthen your narrative and connect with your audience emotionally.

Step 4: Craft a Strong Conclusion

Summarize your belief and its significance in your life, reinforcing the message you want to leave with your readers. Reflect on the journey you’ve taken them on and inspire them to reflect on their own beliefs.

Can I write about a commonly held belief?

Absolutely. While it’s important to maintain authenticity, even exploring a cliché belief can be powerful when you provide a fresh perspective or personal context. Your unique experiences and reflections make your essay stand out.

Can I use proper nouns in my essay?

Yes, proper nouns can add specificity and authenticity to your essay. Mentioning specific places, people, or events can help ground your beliefs in real-world experiences.

How can I make my essay more impactful?

Focus on using strong verbs to convey emotions and actions. Instead of saying “I felt sad,” consider saying “I crumbled under the weight of sorrow.” This adds depth to your writing and engages the reader’s senses.

In the realm of personal expression, the This I Believe essay shines as a vehicle for exploring one’s deepest convictions. By carefully selecting beliefs, weaving context, employing literary devices, and crafting strong conclusions, authors can create narratives that resonate with readers on a profound level. Through the power of words, these essays bridge the gap between individual experiences and universal truths, reminding us of the strength and diversity of human beliefs. So, take the plunge into introspection and share your beliefs with the world through the art of the This I Believe essay.

This I Believe Essay Generator

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Celebrating Four Years Of 'This I Believe'

April 27, 2009 • During its four-year run on NPR, This I Believe engaged listeners in a discussion of the core beliefs that guide their daily lives. We heard from people of all walks of life — the very young and the very old, the famous and the previously unknown.

Saying Thanks To My Ghosts

April 26, 2009 • Novelist Amy Tan hasn't always believed in ghosts, but as a writer she's had too many inspirations that she can't fully explain. Now, Tan embraces her belief in ghosts and the messages of joy, love and peace they bring her.

Life Is An Act Of Literary Creation

April 23, 2009 • Mexican-American novelist Luis Urrea used to think that simply being a good observer would make his writing better. But over time, he's come to believe that being a good writer and a good person comes from paying attention to the world around him.

The Art Of Being A Neighbor

April 12, 2009 • A few years ago, Eve Birch was broke and living alone in a dilapidated mountain shack. But a community of people befriended her, shared what little they had with her and showed Birch the value of neighbors uniting to help one another.

Muhammad Ali John Lair/Muhammad Ali Center hide caption

I Am Still The Greatest

April 6, 2009 • To be the "Greatest of All Time," boxing legend Muhammad Ali says you have to believe in yourself. It's a lesson his parents taught him and it has helped him in fighting Parkinson's disease.

Dancing To Connect To A Global Tribe

March 29, 2009 • Matt Harding has been to 70 countries to dance — badly — in front of a camera, and videos of his travels have become an Internet sensation. Harding believes interacting with so many different people challenges him to understand what unites humanity.

My Father Deserves Spectacular Results

March 26, 2009 • Environmental activist Van Jones is a special adviser to the Obama administration. He says his dad, who died last year, would have gotten a kick out of seeing Obama become president. But his dad had high standards, and there is much more work to be done.

The Beatles Live On

March 15, 2009 • Macklin Levine was born more than 25 years after the Fab Four broke up, but at 12, she has a deep appreciation for Beatles music. "As old as the songs are, you can learn a lot about yourself from the lyrics," she says. And the Beatles help her remember her Dad, too.

Finding Freedom In Forgiveness

March 5, 2009 • Jennifer Thompson-Cannino was certain that Ronald Cotton was the man who raped her in 1984. But she was wrong. After Cotton spent 11 years in jail, DNA evidence proved his innocence. Now, the two have a friendship based on their belief in forgiveness.

Work Is A Blessing

March 1, 2009 • When he was 12, Russel Honore got his first job helping a neighbor milk 65 dairy cows twice a day. Fifty years later, the retired Army lieutenant general believes hard work helps build character, strengthen communities and promote freedom.

Seeing Beyond Our Differences

February 26, 2009 • Scientist Sheri White says that despite differences in size, shape and color, all humans are 99.9 percent biologically identical. White believes we should embrace our similarities and honor the differences that make each of us unique.

Historical Archives

Reflections on race: essays from the archives.

February 23, 2009 • Dan Gediman, executive producer of NPR's This I Believe, explores the archives of the original series hosted by Edward R. Murrow in the 1950s. He says the essays shed light on the realities of segregation at the dawn of the civil rights movement.

Gediman explores the 'This I Believe' archives.

The magic of letters.

February 15, 2009 • Chameli Waiba was raised in a village in Nepal and didn't attend school as a child. When she finally learned to read as an adult, Waiba discovered the power words could have to change her life, as well as the lives of others in her rural community.

How To Survive Life's Tests

February 9, 2009 • Kendra Jones assigned her students to write This I Believe essays and decided that she owed it to them to write one of her own. Jones believes toughness, steeliness and even meanness have helped her throughout her life.

Our Awareness Controls Human Destiny

February 8, 2009 • In an essay from 1951 for the original This I Believe series, Margaret Mead says she can't separate the beliefs she has as a person from the beliefs she has as an anthropologist. She says that humans have a responsibility for the entire planet.

A Hope For Bettering Humanity

February 1, 2009 • In an essay from 1953 for the original This I Believe series, Sir Charles Galton Darwin, the grandson of naturalist Charles Darwin, drew on his study of science to say he believed the future of humanity depended on the practice of eugenics.

Listening Is Powerful Medicine

February 1, 2009 • It took a scolding from an elderly patient to get Dr. Alicia Conill to look up from her charts and stop to listen. Conill came to understand the value of listening in the treatment process — especially when she herself became the patient.

America's Beauty Is In Its Diversity

January 29, 2009 • In sixth grade, Alaa El-Saad decided to start wearing the hijab , a religious head covering for Muslim women. Despite some trepidation, she found her classmates supported her choice. Now El-Saad believes being different is part of being American.

Thirty Things I Believe

January 18, 2009 • When Tarak McLain's kindergarten group celebrated their 100th day of class, some kids brought 100 nuts or cotton balls. Tarak brought a list of 100 things he believes. Now a first-grader, Tarak shares his top beliefs about God, life, nature and war.

Inviting The World To Dinner

January 12, 2009 • Every Sunday for 30 years, Jim Haynes has welcomed complete strangers into his Paris home for dinner. By introducing people to each other and encouraging them to make personal connections, Haynes believes he can foster greater tolerance in the world.

Pathways Of Desire

January 4, 2009 • Gina Parosa believes in letting her kids, pets and livestock make their own paths in life. But she also realizes that as a farmer and parent, she sometimes has to step in and set good boundaries — while still being flexible enough to change them.

This Is Home

January 1, 2009 • Majora Carter believes you don't have to move out of your old neighborhood to live in a better one. Carter was raised in the South Bronx and spent years trying to leave. But when the city proposed a waste facility there, she was inspired to fight for her community.

Health Is A Human Right

December 21, 2008 • As an infectious disease specialist, Dr. Paul Farmer has traveled the planet to organize and provide medical treatment for people living in poverty. He believes good health care is vital but just the first step in creating a world free of all human suffering.

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32 “This I Believe” Essay

The history of ‘this i believe’.

by Tanya Matthews

This I Believe is an exciting media project that invites individuals from all walks of life to write about and discuss the core beliefs that guide their daily lives. They share these statements in weekly broadcasts on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered .

The series is based on the 1950’s radio program This I Believe , hosted by acclaimed journalist Edward R. Murrow. Each day, some 39-million Americans gathered by their radios to hear compelling essays from the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller and Harry Truman as well as corporate leaders, cab drivers, scientists and secretaries — anyone able to distill into a few minutes the guiding principles by which they lived. Their words brought comfort and inspiration to a country worried about the Cold War, McCarthyism and racial division.

Eventually, the radio series became a cultural phenomenon. Eighty-five leading newspapers printed a weekly column based on This I Believe . A collection of essays published in 1952 sold 300,000 copies — second only to the Bible that year. The series was translated and broadcast around the globe on the Voice of America. A book of essays translated into Arabic sold 30,000 copies in just three days.

[The NPR series This I Believe can be read and heard here . In addition, the website and organization This I Believe houses thousands of essays written by famous people, such as the ones mentioned above, and everyday people like you and me.]

As a college student in 2020, you are faced with turbulent politics, socioeconomic issues, and ethical dilemmas that will challenge you to take a stand and contribute to the local, national, and global conversation around you. The purpose of this writing task is not to persuade you to agree on the same beliefs. Rather, it is to encourage you to begin the much more difficult task of developing respect for beliefs different from your own. Fifty years ago, Edward R. Murrow’s project struck such a chord with millions of Americans. It can do so again today…with you.

Video Resources for Generating Ideas

Dan gediman on writing a “this i believe essay”.

Read Cecelia Munoz’s essay “Getting Angry Can Be a Good Thing” referred to in the previous video here .

“This I Believe” Essay with Animation

“This I Believe” Essay Ideas

Prewriting Activity

1) analyze others’ statements.

Consider the following statements, written in response to the question What Have You Learned About Life? Highlight any sentences that resonate with you. Talk about them with a partner or group, explaining why. 1. I’ve learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they are doing and wave back. – Age 9 2. I’ve learned that if you want to cheer yourself up, you should try cheering someone else up. – Age 14 3. I’ve learned that although it’s hard to admit it, I’m secretly glad my parents are strict with me. – Age 15 4. I’ve learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it. – Age 39 5. I’ve learned that there are people who love you dearly but just don’t know how to show it. – Age 42 6. I’ve learned that you can make someone’s day by simply sending them a little note. – Age 44 7. I’ve learned that the greater a person’s sense of guilt, the greater his or her need to cast blame on others. – Age 46 8. I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. – Age 48 9. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you miss them terribly after they die. – Age 53 10. I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life. – Age 58 11. I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. – Age 62 12. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with kindness, I usually make the right decision. – Age 66 13. I’ve learned that it pays to believe in miracles. And to tell the truth, I’ve seen several. – Age 75 14. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. – Age 82 15. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch—holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. – Age 85 16. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. – Age 92

2) Compose Your Own Statement

Write down a sentence that expresses what YOU have learned about life. Maybe it is similar to one of the statements above; maybe it’s completely different. Whatever it is, write it down.

3) Freewrit e

Now free-write about your sentence. Include at least two examples / experiences that you have had that support why you think this way.

Personal Statement/Philosophy: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Why do you believe in this statement? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Name two experiences that you had that would support the statement: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What does this say about yourself or your personality? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ After your life experience, how have you come to the conclusion that this should be your statement? How have your beliefs changed, if at all? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How has the event effected your relationship with a person, place, or object? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How does your statement apply to you today? (How you view yourself & society) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SAMPLE STUDENT ESSAYS

Sample #1: america’s beauty is in its diversity.

written by Alaa El-Saad,  high school student,  as heard on NPR’s Tell Me More (2009)

America is built on the idea of freedom, and there is no exception for Muslim women. I believe in the freedom of religion and speech. But mostly, I believe it’s OK to be different, and to stand up for who and what you are. So I believe in wearing the hijab.

The hijab is a religious head covering, like a scarf. I am Muslim and keeping my head covered is a sign of maturity and respect toward my religion and to Allah’s will. To be honest, I also like to wear it to be different. I don’t usually like to do what everyone else is doing. I want to be an individual, not just part of the crowd. But when I first wore it, I was also afraid of the reaction that I’d get at school.

I decided on my own that sixth grade was the time I should start wearing the hijab. I was scared about what the kids would say or even do to me. I thought they might make fun of me, or even be scared of me and pull off my headscarf. Kids at that age usually like to be all the same, and there’s little or no acceptance for being different.

On the first day of school, I put all those negative thoughts behind my back and walked in with my head held high. I was holding my breath a little, but inside I was also proud to be a Muslim, proud to be wearing the hijab, proud to be different.

I was wrong about everything I thought the kids would say or even do to me. I actually met a lot of people because of wearing my head covering. Most of the kids would come and ask me questions—respectfully—about the hijab, and why I wore it.

I did hear some kid was making fun of me, but there was one girl—she wasn’t even in my class, we never really talked much—and she stood up for me, and I wasn’t even there! I made a lot of new friends that year, friends that I still have until this very day, five years later.

Yes, I’m different, but everyone is different here, in one way or another. This is the beauty of America. I believe in what America is built on: all different religions, races and beliefs. Different everything.

Sample #2: The Essentials to Happiness

written by Alexxandra Schuman, high school student, as heard on The Bob Edwards Show (2013)

As a child, I was generally happy; singing and dancing to my favorite songs; smiling and laughing with my friends and family. But as far back as second grade, I noticed a “darkness,” about me. I didn’t enjoy engaging in many things. I didn’t relate to my peers in elementary school because they appeared so happy, and I didn’t have that ability to achieve happiness so easily.

In middle school things in my life began to get even worse. I began withdrawing from everything I once enjoyed; swimming, tennis, family. I hated going to sleep knowing I had to wake up to another day. I was always tired. Everything was horrible. Finally, midway through eighth grade, I was told I had a chemical imbalance; diagnosed with clinical depression and put on medication. It took months for me to feel the effects of the medication.

When I began to feel happy again, is when I realized that I had to take the responsibility for getting better myself, rather than relying on medication and therapy alone. Aristotle said, “To live happily is an inward power of the soul,” and I believe that this quote describes what I had to do to achieve happiness. Happiness is a journey. Everyone seems to need different things to be happy. But I believe people are blinded from what truly makes one happy.

Growing up, we’re encouraged to be successful in life; but how is success defined? Success and happiness are imagined now as having a lot of money. It is so untrue. Recently I went to Costa Rica and visited the small town of El Roble. I spent the day with a nine-year old girl named Marilyn. She took me to her house to meet her parents. It was obvious that they were not rich; living in a small house with seven children. The house was cluttered but full of life. Those who have decided that success and happiness comes from having money and a big house would be appalled at how utterly happy this family from El Roble is. People say that seeing things like that make you appreciate what you have, but for me, it made me envy them for being so happy without all the things I have.

“The essentials to happiness are something to love, something to do, and something to hope for,” a quote from William Blake sums up what I believe people need to realize to be truly happy in life. People need love; I feel they need their family and their friends more than anything in the world. People need work to do, something to make them feel they are making a difference in the world. People need to know that more good is to come in the future, so they continue to live for “now” instead of constantly worrying about the bad that could come. And most importantly people need to know that happiness is not something that happens overnight. Love and hope is happiness.

Sample #3: Find a Good Frog

written by Delia Motavalli, high school student, as heard on The Bob Edwards Show (2013)

I believe in finding a good frog. It seems that all throughout childhood, we are taught to look for a happily ever after. “And they all lived happily ever after”; isn’t that the conclusion to many children’s films? When I was a kid I always thought of that as magical; but now really it just seems unrealistic. And it teaches us that what we want is a fairytale like they have in the storybooks. We all want to be Cinderella who gets swept off her feet by the hot prince; we want to live in the royal castle, right? But I don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing for us to seek. Now I’m not saying I believe in being pessimistic, but I do believe in being realistic; it’s something I got from my mom.

My mother and I always have our best conversations in the rain. We sit in the car, neither of us wanting to brave the rain to get to the house. So we sit. We watch droplets race down the windshield, listen to the rain strike the roof of her little blue Honda, and feel the heater on full-blast rushing at our feet (just the way we like it). I don’t know why, but sitting in the car, we always talk more than normal. There was one rainy day when my mom told me something that is going to stick with me forever. Earlier that day she and my dad had been arguing about something; I can’t remember what. So she said, “Don’t spend your life looking for Prince Charming. Instead, find yourself a really good frog.”

At the time, I found this thought really disheartening. Who wants to think that you’ll never find Prince Charming? You’ll never get to be Cinderella? Another thought that struck my mind: if my mom says there’s no Prince Charming, then what’s my dad? A frog? I asked her, and she replied with, “Of course! If he were Prince Charming, he wouldn’t snore, would be able to cook, and we would never argue. But you know what? He’s a damn good frog.” Of course, being young, I didn’t think of the meaning behind what she was saying. I was too busy thinking of it literally, visualizing my mom as a princess and my dad in frog form.

But a few years later, I understand the value of my mom’s words. You can’t expect everything to be perfect. Let’s be completely honest; if you wait your whole life for your prince with flowing hair, statuesque features, and a white horse, you’re going to be lonely. I think that the point of finding a good frog is you accept something that’s great, flaws and all. It’s so easy to be picky. You can find the one tiny thing that’s wrong, and that one tiny thing is what you can’t get your mind off of. But in life, we can’t afford to wait years in vain for perfection. So I think that a good frog, an amazing frog, the best frog you can find is what we’re really looking for in this world. Don’t laze through life waiting for a happily ever after, because I don’t think you’ll be very happy with the outcome.

Examples from the ‘This I Believe’ Website

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude by Sarah Adams

They Lived Their Faith by Charles Henry Parrish

Returning to What’s Natural by Amelia Baxter-Stoltzfus

The Birthright of Human Dignity by Will Thomas

Remembering All The Boys by Elvia Bautista

I Am Still The Greatest by Muhammad Ali

A Goal Of Service To Humankind by Anthony Fauci

My Life Is Better by Abraham

Give Me a Waffle by Brenda

The Little Things by Sophie Crossley

You can also browse thousands more This I Believe essays by theme .

Prefer to Listen to Get Inspiration?

Check out This I Believe’s Podcast Series

4) Drafting

Assignment guidelines + suggestions and tips for drafting.

1. While the examples you’ve been given can serve as a model, it is essential that each of you write about a personal belief or philosophy that you feel strongly about. 2. Tell a story. Personal experiences are the corner stone of a good essay. Your story doesn’t have to be a heart breaker or even a major event, but it must be something that has affected how you think, feel, and act. List your personal experiences that you intend to use as evidence below: 3. Be concise. Avoid repetition. This essay should be between 500 – 650 words. When read aloud, it should take roughly four minutes. 4. Name your belief. It is essential that you can name your belief in a sentence or two. Focus on one belief only. This is your thesis. Write it here: 5. Be positive. Avoid preaching or persuading. You aren’t trying to change the way others think or act. Write about what you believe, not what you don’t believe. 6. Use the first person. Speak for yourself. Avoid using we or you. 7. Let your voice shine. Use language that sounds like you. Read it aloud as your revise. Keep making changes until your essay sounds like you and captures the essence of your belief.

5) Peer Review

Once you have written your first draft, arrange for your essay to be edited by a peer, using the following Peer-Editing Checklist: Writer’s Name: ________________________________________________ Peer Editor’s Name: ________________________________________________ Use your PENCIL or PEN (NOT red or green) to make corrections. Remember, this essay is a work in progress. You are not done writing! Look for ways to improve what you’ve already written. Tick each step if it has been completed. _____ 1. Read the paper backwards, one sentence at a time. Check for spelling errors. Use a dictionary, a friend, or a spell checker to find the correct spelling. _____ 2. Check for capitalized proper nouns and the first word of each sentence. _____ 3. Skip a line between each paragraph. _____ 4. Every sentence should have end punctuation. _____ 5. Check commas. Are they only used for compound sentences, a list of items, an introductory word or phrase, direct address, setting off interruptions, separating adjectives, or in dates? Do you need to add commas? Make sure you do not have commas separating complete sentences (i.e. comma splice errors that create run-on sentences). _____ 6. Apostrophes are used only for contractions and to show ownership. _____ 7. The use of more complex punctuation (dashes, hyphens, semi-colons, parentheses, etc.) is done correctly. _____ 8. Have you used commonly mixed pairs of words correctly? Check these: they’re/their/there, your/you’re, it’s/its, a/an, to/too/two, are/our/hour, and others. _____ 9. Read the paper backwards one sentence at a time. Check for sentence fragments and run-ons and correct them. _____ 10. Did you stay in present tense (such as is, am, do, take, know, etc.) or past tense (such as was, were, did, took, knew, etc.) throughout the entire essay? _____ 11. Did you stay in first person (I, me, my, we, us, our) or third person (he, him, she, her, they, them, their) throughout the entire essay? _____ 12. Was there adequate use of specific details and sensory details? Were the details clear and relevant to the statement? _____ 13. Is the overall purpose/philosophy clear? _____ 14. Does the conclusion make you go, “Wow!” “Cool!” “I never thought about it that way,” or any other similar reaction? Other suggestions for the overall content of the piece: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This I Believe by Tanya Matthews is licensed by CC-BY-SA

“This I Believe” Essay Copyright © 2020 by Liza Long; Amy Minervini; and Joel Gladd is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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• Resource Library
• Communication
• Intro to AFNR
• Personal Essay
• Public Speaking

Education Standards

Nebraska agriculture and natural resources standards.

Learning Domain: Agribusiness Systems

Standard: Differentiate between management and leadership

This I Believe essay - Leadership

This i believe oral evaluation sheet, 'this i believe' essay writing.

Presented in five consecutive standard-period classes, students are invited to contribute to the This I Believe essay-writing project by writing and submitting a statement of personal belief.  This is a challenging, intimate statement on one’s beliefs and one’s own daily life philosophy, considering moments when belief was formed, tested, or changed.  Written by Jarvis Reed.

Overview:  Presented in five consecutive standard-period classes, students are invited to contribute to the This I Believe essay-writing project by writing and submitting a statement of personal belief.  This is a challenging, intimate statement on one's beliefs and one's own daily life philosophy, considering moments when belief was formed, tested, or changed.  Written by Jarvis Reed.

AFNR.HS.10.5.c  Communicate using strategies that ensure clarity, logic, purpose, and rofessionalism in formal or informal settings.

AFNR.HS.20.1.d  Examine and practice public speaking.

Learning Goal: 

Students will increase written and oral communication skills by thinking critically and articulating in writing a personal foundational belief in 350-500 words stated in the affirmative and then presenting this essay to their class.

Photo by Yeshi Kangrang on Unsplash

53 This I Believe Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best this i believe topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 most interesting this i believe topics to write about, ❓ this i believe questions.

• This I Believe: What Goes Around Comes Around – Essay I never did my homework and it became so hard for me to catch up with the rest in class. This was the time when I remembered the words of my grandmother “only fools rush […]
• This I Believe: Happiness Is a Choice I know that I can choose to be happy. I was ashamed and worried that he would know I took it. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Art and Creativity to Solve Problems I believe that art is the deepest expression of the society and the beliefs it underscores. I believe in the unity of the human race and bringing an end to racism and human trafficking.
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IvyPanda. (2023, November 8). 53 This I Believe Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/this-i-believe-essay-examples/

"53 This I Believe Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." IvyPanda , 8 Nov. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/this-i-believe-essay-examples/.

IvyPanda . (2023) '53 This I Believe Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 8 November.

IvyPanda . 2023. "53 This I Believe Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." November 8, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/this-i-believe-essay-examples/.

1. IvyPanda . "53 This I Believe Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." November 8, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/this-i-believe-essay-examples/.

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IvyPanda . "53 This I Believe Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." November 8, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/this-i-believe-essay-examples/.

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076: You’ll Love the “This I Believe” Writing Project

• October 16, 2019

This weekend I spent three days in Richmond, Virginia in my first ever experience as a keynote speaker. It was delightful to get to meet so many wonderful educators and hear about their work. As I watched two young teachers spending all their free time at the conference planning a Halloween escape room to engage their 8th graders, I was reminded for the millionth time how much I believe in teachers. How much I wish our system believed in each teacher and put their work and their artistry above scripts, standardized tests, and purchased programs.

I found myself itching to write a manifesto about this, and it reminded me of the This I Believe essays I wrote years ago with my students in Bulgaria. So today, I want to share this writing project with you, and show you the simple steps you can take to launch a high-engagement personal writing project that culminates in a public performance of student work. This was one of my favorite writing units that I’ve ever done, and it’s an ideal way to help juniors and seniors with college essays too. So let’s get into it.

Read on, or listen in on the podcast player below, or on  iTunes ,  Blubrry , or  Stitcher .

I love so many things about NPR, but their This I Believe radio series is right up there in the top tier. In this series, NPR invited people to write short essays explaining a dearly held belief, using specific, detailed stories to give evidence for their belief.

These beliefs varied hugely, and were not always the big picture idealized beliefs you might expect. “ Be Cool to the Pizza Dude ” and “ Find a Good Frog ” (written by a 9th grader) are both featured on the This I Believe project website , which has extended the project into the present.

So how does this all translate into the classroom? Funny you should ask.

Setting up the Project

You can begin by playing a few of the recorded essays from the site and talking about what makes the pieces so colorful and fun to read or hear. Explain that you’ll be doing a lot of writing and discussion about what matters to your students prior to writing essays of their own and eventually performing them in a live radio-style show.

Then you can move into reflective prompts from  the free NPR curriculum set  or prompts of your own devising to get students to think about their own strong beliefs, discuss them in small groups or with partners, and begin different types of reflective and personal narrative writing.

For example, you might:

• Ask students to journal on prompts like: What advice about life do you think you would give to your own children, based on your experiences so far? What’s one experience you’ve had that changed the way you look at the world? Who do you most admire and why? What’s your motto? What’s something you’ve learned from your family over the years? Have you ever read a book, heard a song, or watched a movie that made you think about life differently? Why?
• Invite students to participate in small group discussions around prompts like: What’s your favorite quotation and why? What do you wish everyone in the world would agree on and do? What’s unfair in the world and what could be done about it? 
• Try a #makewriting project in which students first build the answer to the question “what do you care most about?” using loose parts, then reflect on what they’ve made and why they care so much about it. 
• Ask students to find a photograph from their phones that shows an important moment in their lives. Have them talk to a partner about the image and why that moment felt important, and what it shows about what they care about. 
• Play “The Truth about Me”   as a class
• Read a short piece of memoir and try a six-word memoir project , then dive into some aspect of the six-word memoir in search of a key belief, either in writing or with small groups or partners

Once you have spent several days thinking and talking about beliefs as well as building community, share the  This I Believe essay guidelines  with your students and let them begin drafting final essays.

Prepping for the Performance Event

Along the way, students can choose a committee to join to help prepare for the final performance event.

I divided students into the following committees, based on their interests:

• P.R. (these folks worked on programs, inviting guests, and capturing photos and ideas from the event to share out afterwards)
• Event Planning (these folks worked on food and drinks, designing the space, and decorating it)
• M.C. /Tech (these folks figured out lights and speakers and made sure we had a working microphone, then they supplied either an M.C. or cohosts for the show to welcome everyone and close the show)

The Big Day

On the day of our final performances, we gathered with our guests in the main entryway of our building, where seating, fun decor, a mic, and food were ready to go. The students performed their pieces (or in many cases, performed others’ pieces so they felt more comfortable in front of the crowd) as the class and guests watched and cheered them on. The M.C.s hosted the event, the P.R. committee took photos, and the event planning group made sure there were some treats on hand and cleaned up after the shows.

To help keep kids focused during the event, I recommend you either have them vote for their top three essays (with reasons to back up their choices) or fill out several compliment cards you can hand out later to the writers. This is a nice reminder to pay attention without feeling onerous, since it just contributes to a culture of appreciation for what their peers are doing.

You don’t really need to grade the performances, though you could make it a nominal grade if you’re worried some kids won’t take it seriously. You’ll get the actual essays that you can read and comment on afterwards. Mostly, it’s a fun day to celebrate the work of the students and build a community as everyone shares beliefs that really matter to them – some funny, some serious.

I encouraged the students to send their work in to the This I Believe project, and two were published online. Unfortunately, the website is no longer accepting work, but you might consider encouraging students to send them to the local newspaper or the school newspaper, or you could put up your own This I Believe blog at your school and publish all the essays there, or even publish the essays into a binder in the library that kids can continue to add to year after year. This will turn into a great resource as the project continues.

These essays can also make quality springboards for the college essay process. This personal and reflective writing is an ideal beginning to thinking about how to represent themselves to their future colleges.

As I said earlier, I started to think back on this project after my weekend at VATE, so here’s the This I Believe essay I’ve been pondering myself since then…

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My "This I Believe" is one of students' favorite units (College Writing – juniors and seniors). There are some phenomenal exemplar texts that we use in conjunction with our syntax unit. But, most importantly, I wanted to say how much I appreciate the sentiments expressed in your own essay. It's a wonderful model to write alongside your students. Thank you!

Thank you, TJ!

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How to Write A ‘This I Believe’ Essay

Table of Contents

How to Write the Essay on ‘I Believe’

The ‘I believe’ is an essay that expects an individual to write about the particular beliefs that a person has. This topic does not necessarily need to be a religion as thought by many students. It is what can carry someone’s interests. Anything that comes to mind is applicable as long as it is a belief to you and in society like an essay on love and proof that love exists either personally or generally. Besides, it applies to writing about something which people do not believe in its existence. Similarly, the essay can be personal or based on research. In research, one is expected to support their ideas with references to the provided source. The written story should be accurate and have the ability to carry the readers easily. If possible, the writing should be able to bring the reader into believing the particular theme used despite their beliefs. The idea provided should have the emotional status of the user depending on the trait presented. If it is a funny story, the reader should be able to be carried in the capacity where they find themselves laughing without expecting it. In this case, the story will be real. Moreover, consider the particular moments for the creation, testing, or changing of your principles and ensure the story surrounds the essence of a person’s daily life values to the shaping of their beliefs. Besides, this essay should be a reflection of the life of an individual. One has to explain their faith critically in this article and after that relate to life including the personal beliefs one has experienced. A statement or the body in the explanation of this essay should be as brief as possible. The shorter the length, the greater the focus on the central belief in an individual’s life.

How to Start this I Believe Essay

Before beginning to write the essay construct a structure that guides the writing of the entire article. At the beginning of the piece, to be able to explain one’s belief quickly, the writers have to talk about the main idea just like in introduction of other essays where you state and explain your objectives in the article. It is always best when a writer quickly explains the core belief focused on in the piece. The introduction should only comprise the ‘I believe’ statement and a phrase to attract the reader.

How to Write Body Paragraphs for this I believe essay

The body structure which entails all the events in the paragraphs provides a detailed explanation using figurative language which should always have the letters ‘a’ and ‘e’ to enable the reader quickly see the story and provide a smooth flow in writing. Also under the body, one should create a paragraph about what they have learned from the belief and the effect this view on their lives into them growing into well-rounded people. Through identifying the picture, explain the application of this idea in one’s personal life in the future . The writer always has to remind the reader of the core belief they stated in the introduction and their hope to share this knowledge with the reader. Also, an explanation of why the reader should care about their personal beliefs and their teaching lesson to the reader entailing what the reader learns. When writing a “this I believe” assignment despite allowing a writer to write either the positivity or negativity in their beliefs this is what they believe in or what they do not believe in, it is always best to focus on one’s beliefs to compose an excellent essay.

How to conclude the Essay

It is not advisable to include religious belief statements, preaching, or editorializing when constructing the article. Also, always make the article about one’s yourself. Writing in the first person is allowed in this type of composition to bring out the personal belief perspective apparently.

Tips for Final Revision

Upon completion of describing one’s opinion, edit the piece to ensure the right word tone used lacks the editorial ‘we’ and provides an echo of one’s beliefs and original manner of speech towards people. The essay composed should be a personal story; not an opinion piece about social ideals. Review the written piece and compare it with the provided instructions to make ensure the correct answering of the questions. Remove any mistakes or spelling problems and ensure there is a flow in the writing of the essay. Also, ensure that the structure of the paragraphs has supporting detail and an explanation of the detail as per the stated point. In the writing of this section, the approach employed should not be direct. The sentences constructed should be simple. The essay after every sentence should leave the reader with suspense and an urge to know what comes next. They should not be able to predict the events because if they do the ‘I believe essay’ will be very annoying. Finally, the most important thing is to stay on topic. A person’s core belief in an article is the subject of the composition. For example, writing on a core belief as ‘love’ should be the only idea covered in the essay. Also, ensure that the formats used are per the required forms. In doing all this an excellent ‘this I believe composition’ will be poised.

Outline Example for this I Believe Essay

Introduction – Introduce the aim of writing the paper.

Thesis statement

• Paragraph one – Introduce your first point on the “this I believe” paper.
• Paragraph two – One should create a paragraph about what they have learned from the belief
• Paragraph three – Explain the application of the specific idea in one’s personal life in the future.

Closing paragraph – Restate the purpose of the essay (What has the text shown us?).

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This I Believe - Emma

School: Springfield Renaissance School

City/State: Springfield , MA

Grade(s): 10

Format(s): Essay

Subject(s): English Language Arts

Type(s): Argument/Opinion

Writing Assignment Description

Tenth-grade students at the Springfield Renaissance School in Springfield, Massachusetts, as part of their English Language Arts class, created This I Believe essays. The format for This I Believe essays has a long heritage, beginning with a radio program in the 1950’s with that name, hosted by journalist Edward R. Murrow. National Public Radio has continued the tradition of hosting famous and unknown citizens to write and orally present short essays that capture personal stories and personal beliefs, carrying on a tradition of celebrating narratives and promoting respect and appreciation for the beliefs of others.

The students in this classroom worked together, using models, peer critique and teacher critique, to craft these essays to share with the school community.

How This Writing Can Be Useful

• Demonstrates a format that could be used in any classroom
• Addresses a topic of common concern for both teachers and students
• Excellent example of a real life experience expressed in a meaningful tone

Relevant Resources

Common core state standards.

Power Lesson: “This I Believe” Essays

December 4, 2016

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“Doing homework”  by Predi is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

In this power lesson shared by high school English teacher Cynthia Ruiz , students write their own personal statements of belief. The essay pushes students to write about something that matters to them and helps them get to know each other on a deeper level.

I used to assign a “Letter to the Teacher” at the beginning of every year  to get a snapshot of how a student writes while simultaneously learning background information. Being completely honest, this assignment is also an easy way to get the first few back-to-school days started when a 90-minute class period feels like 900 minutes, because everyone is typically on their best behavior and not talking much. Although I enjoy reading the letters, the assignment doesn’t lend itself to revising and is written only for a specific, one-person audience.

I know building relationships with students is important and a way to get to know them is through their writing, so I did some research to see what other teachers were trying. I came across the “This I Believe” site  and immediately liked the concept better than an introduction letter for a teacher.

Assignment Guidelines

The first time I assigned a “This I Believe” essay was in the fall of 2014, during the second week of school. I planned it as a year-long endeavor, something we could work on as a distraction from other essays required to prepare for state testing. This past year, I did not assign it until late April; it would be our last major writing task. I wanted to give everyone plenty of time to write but held them to a firm deadline of having four weeks to work.

This time, I crafted my writing guidelines according to  those posted on the NPR site that hosts hundreds of This I Believe essays from around the world. My rubric still has some typical writing conventions, but overall I think it focuses more on student voice than structure. I made it clear that students had a lot of choice regarding both content and format. The biggest restriction came directly from the This I Believe site: a 500-600 word limit. I know a lot of writing teachers are divided when it comes to word count, but I figured it was still better than giving a specific number of required paragraphs and sentences.

One other requirement was that students use at least three “vocabulary devices.” This may seem like a restriction, but it actually supported student voice. Over the spring semester, we spent a lot of time reviewing both rhetorical and literary devices (anaphora, hypothetical questions, simile) and I told students to focus on the devices they genuinely felt comfortable using.

Helping Students Choose a Topic

Because the rubric leaves room for a lot of choice, I encouraged students to visit the featured essays site and not only read, but listen to real examples. I wanted them to see that this wasn’t just another run-of-the-mill assignment, that what they believe is important and writing is just one way to share those beliefs. I also made it a point to tell them our end goal was to share this essay with their entire class by way of a gallery walk.

After giving students time to explore the site, I had them “rush write” in their notebooks to see what immediate ideas they captured to help start the brainstorming process. Here’s the prompt I used:

This I Believe For 2 minutes: List words or ideas that you think about when you think of YOUR LIFE. (Can be feelings, symbols, names, events, etc.)

After students generated this list, I asked them to consider what they wanted to write about and share with others. I wanted them to imagine a larger audience and think outside of meeting my expectations.

For some, deciding what to write about was easy and they began drafting immediately. However, the majority of students struggled not so much with what they believe, but how to write about it. Even though they appreciated having so much choice, they still needed some direction to get started.

We continued the listing strategy by focusing on “most memorables”: most memorable events in life so far, most memorable stuffed animal, most memorable friends, family experiences, life lessons learned, and so on. I asked them to focus on why they remember what they remember, and whether or not it impacts any of their beliefs. One student remembered a saying his grandmother always told him that still provides comfort as he’s gotten older. Another focused on her family not having a big house when they first moved to America and how she’s learned to be satisfied with opportunities instead of possessions. While this strategy helped a lot of light bulbs go off, it didn’t work for everyone.

Another strategy I tried was using involved sentence stems: I know I am the way I am today because______. I know I think about things the way I do because _______. I think most people would describe me as ______. I emphasized that these phrases did not have to be included in their final products, but should help generate ideas. I talked with a few frustrated students about this strategy and they told me it made them realize they’ve never really had to think about themselves in this way, but ultimately, it gave them direction for their essays.

Drafting and Revising

Because of block scheduling, I gave students about a week and a half to complete a working draft, which required having at least two paragraphs of their essay done. I only gave a portion of two to three class periods to actually write in class; students were expected to write on their own time.

On the day drafts were due, I set aside class time for revision. I asked students to refer to the rubric and focus on voice and vocabulary strategies. Questions I told them to consider were: Does this sound like me? Do I talk like this to my friends or family? I gave students the option of reviewing their own essays or partnering up with someone to peer edit. Again, this was the end of the year, so we had already established a pretty firm community of trust in class. I don’t know if peer editing would have been as easy had I done the assignment early in the year.

Overall, draft day didn’t feel like the usual “revising and editing” days we’ve had with other essays. Students were very concerned with whether or not they were making sense, if they should add more, or if they were being too repetitive, rather than only being concerned about capitalization, spelling, and grammatical errors.

Sharing the Finished Essays

The culmination of this assignment was when the essays were shared in a gallery walk . The gallery walk is my answer to having students write for a larger audience, and it really helps this essay become about what students have to say instead of just another grade. I can’t count how many times I have returned tediously graded essays only to have a kid immediately walk over to the recycling bin and trash it! Sure he read the comments and suggestions I made, or saw the cute smiley face I left by an excellent word choice, but it didn’t mean much to him because the paper is graded and finished, and he is now done thinking about it. With a gallery walk, not only are students thinking about what they wrote, but they have the opportunity to think about what their classmates wrote as well.

I printed each essay without any names, and made sure any identifying statements were revised. However, there were quite a few students who said they were proud of what they wrote and had no problem if others knew which essay belonged to them. Because not every student turned in a final copy, I printed additional copies of some completed essays to ensure every student had something to read during our gallery walk, instead of drawing attention to the two or three students who did not finish the assignment.

I placed the essays on different tables throughout the room and allowed students to move around as needed; some chose to stand and read an essay, others opted to sit, while others sprawled out on the floor to read. I played soft music and asked that the room volume stay quiet enough to be able to hear the music at all times. I didn’t mind if students were sharing and discussing, and I really wish I recorded the various conversations and comments I overheard that day: “Wow! Did you read this one yet?” “Man. Who wrote this? I might cry. Good tears, though.” “This one is life, Ms. Ruiz.”

I provided a pad of post-its near each essay and told students to leave POSITIVE feedback for each other. I provided sentence stems to help:

Something I liked…

Something I can relate to/agree with…

Something that surprised me…

Something I want to know more about…

I really think…

I periodically checked to make sure no one was being inappropriately critical or just leaving cute hearts or check marks. I wanted students to think about what they were reading, and understand that feedback is a crucial part of the writing process

After about 40 minutes, each essay had received multiple written comments, looking similar to the picture below:

Overall, the feedback was uplifting and actually created a sense of belonging in each class. Students told me they learned so much about each other that day and were shocked by their classmates’ writing. A few said they wished they had written this essay sooner.

Sample Student Work

I was floored by some of the essays I received. Some made me laugh, some made me gasp, some made me cry. Compared to the typical papers I usually assign, this essay allowed my students to not just think about what they were writing but to care about their writing and to be intentional in the language they were using, both in word choice and rhetorical strategies, because it was about what they believe. It is some of the strongest student writing I have ever received as an English teacher.

Here are some sample paragraphs from students who gave me permission to share their work:

From a student who told me he hates school and hates writing.

From a student who by all outward appearances, comes from a traditional family.

From a student battling depression and anxiety.

From a student who missed almost a whole semester but is trying to stay in school.

Although this essay helped end the year with a strong sense of community, I think teachers could easily have students write it at the beginning of the school year or even in January at the start of a new year. I’d love to hear how other teachers have used an essay like this in their classes. ♦

Have you taught a lesson or designed a learning experience we should feature in Power Lessons? Send a full description of your lesson through our contact  form and we’ll check it out!

What to Read Next

Categories: Instruction

Tags: English language arts , lesson planning , power lessons

39 Comments

Cynthia and Jennifer, Thank you for sharing this Power Lesson; it’s one I plan on “borrowing” for sure in January. I love the connection built during the gallery walk. I can imagine this being truly powerful for all students. Well done!

I LOVE this!! I will use this in the Spring with my students. The excerpts in the blog post were so personal. I hope the students realize what a gift they shared.

Tonya, I agree. I’m always so grateful when students are willing to let us see their work here!

I love this assignment. I use it every semester with Public Speaking students, following a similar brainstorm and drafting process. Since the assignment comes from a radio program, my students audio record themselves, and our celebration of the work happens through hearing each student read the essay. Very powerful hearing their voices!

Ruth, thanks so much for taking the time to share this idea. I’m sure lots of teachers will love how audio enriches this assignment.

Thank you for sharing the students’ samples. Writing is such a great way to express oneself and when you make it personal students are engaged. ❤️ it! I am thinking about adding it as my last assignment for my 3rd graders!

Thank you for sharing, especially the students’ work samples.This will help inspire my students to share important details about their lives. Might I also recommend an excellent book I purchased used recently: Reading, Writing and Rising Up (by Linda Christensen)

I like this writing strategy. Last week I started something similar with my Arabic students. In groups of 3 to 4 students, they wrote stories (Brainstorm, first draft…) They started writing their final draft(with illustrations and drawings) on the butcher paper. On Monday, they will hang it on the wall and they will give each other feed back wile walking and reading each other’s essays. The problem with the foreign languages students writing is that they have brilliant ideas in English, but they cannot express them in Arabic or French… My questions is the following: Is there a way to adapt this writing strategy to World Languages students with taking into consideration the limited students’ language levels.

I love this assignment. I use at the end of the year with my seniors. I tell them to focus on a belief that they have formed over their past years of school and that will guide them as they make steps on their next journey — college, military, work, etc. Every year I am awed by the thought and pride they take in it. Their voices shine through the papers. The emotions, ranging from joy to sadness or humor to regret, overtake their essay making each both personal and universal. I also always write one that I individualize for each class and how they have shaped or firmed one of my own beliefs.

I love this, especially as a way to “re-enter” in January! I hope that I can use it effectively with my middle schoolers. Thank you so much for sharing this!

YES!! This was my first lesson in my first year of teaching and it completely set the tone for the rest of the year. The work I received from eleven year olds blew my mind, and I even submitted(with their permission) a few pieces to be published because they were that deep. Bravo to this I believe essays & sharing lessons like this with other educators.

Did you find that you had to add in any scaffolds/support for students? I want to try this with my 7th graders who really struggle with writing and getting started with ideas.

This looks like a fabulous project and one I am keen to try out next semester.

I, too, have been doing this assignment for a few years now. It is my favorite assignment of the year. I teach 8th grade English and I have my students share their essays aloud. We sit in a circle and listen to each student share his/her belief. It is powerful. We laugh. We cry. We learn. Having students write for an audience of their peers is challenging for them, but so rewarding in the end.

This looks great for January. I noticed that the This I Believe website has a high school curriculum for sale for $20. Has anyone used it? Is it worth it? Necessary?

This reminds me of an assignment I had in high school. It was called our “Capstone,” and was a year-long process (12th grade). We first chose three things that were important to our lives: a person, a place, and an event. Over the first semester we wrote about these in three separate papers. Then come second semester we had to connect them with a metaphor, and put together a 20 minute presentation that connected everything. It really allowed students to get creative while expressing what was most important to us.

Do you happen to have an example of this still? It sounds AWESOME and I would love to do it with my 8th graders!

Your students’ essays are beautiful, authentic and inspiring, as I am sure your teaching is. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for the lesson. I like this idea for journaling too!

A brilliant idea! Thanks!

Thanks for sharing and including student work examples. Essays like this are a great way to get to know students at a deeper level and could also make a good college entrance essay!

Thank you for sharing this. Inspirational and heartfelt writing from young people.

This is so inspiring and beautiful. Thank you so much, both of you for sharing this power lesson. I was lookibng for a writing task muy ss could include in their e-Portafolio. Can’t wait to try it!! Thank you again!!

I know this might be simplistic, but could you share more about the vocabulary devices?

Hi, April! For the vocabulary devices, I’m referring to adding similes, metaphors, hyperboles, imagery, etc. We usually practice devices like anaphora and asyndeton in my advanced classes, so those can also be used. One of my favorite lines this year was: “I mean, I thought a step stool would do the job but instead it was like climbing a 20 foot ladder just to finish my goal…” We talked about how using a vocab device is more powerful than “I worked really hard.” Hope that helps! Cheers!

This is sooooo great!! I love it!!!!!

I love this. Has anyone tried it at the start if the year? Are students willing to write about such personal experiences and beliefs with a teacher and classmates that they don’t know well?

Hi Lizzie! I work for Cult of Pedagogy, but I’m replying as a teacher. I teach college level freshman comp and I started my previous semester with this essay. Because it was the beginning of the year, I didn’t do a gallery walk; it was more of a practice assignment to get used to the flow of papers and feedback. They had to bring in a rough draft for in-class workshops, so I made sure they knew a few of their classmates would be reading what they wrote. For extra credit, I offered them the chance to record their paper as a “podcast” and post it on YouTube. I was blown away by how in-depth most of them went! In fact, I’m starting my fall semester with it again.

I love this assignment in the spring for senior English. Generally, kids are appreciative that we’re doing the final writing assignment about something that is ‘real world legit’. I’ve always been impressed by their level of attention (and attendance),as our gallery walk happens on the last day of their English class in June.

Hi! This looks like a fantastic lesson and I would love to try it with one of my English classes. I noticed that your writing guidelines link is no longer available. Is there anyway I could get this information? Thanks Kelsey

Hi Kelsey! Thanks for letting us know about the link. This was a guest post and we will be happy to reach out to Cynthia to see if she has a current link to the writing guidelines. If so, we’ll get that updated on the post as soon as we can. Thanks again!

I was wondering about the guidelines as well. I teach in China and we are out of school right now for Chinese New Year, so I would love to have this when we return in February. Thanks for your help!

Hi Karen & Kelsey! I wanted to follow up on your request for the guidelines to let you know that Jenn no longer has access to them. If you haven’t already done so, Jenn recommends to check out the writing guidelines posted on NPR. I hope this helps!

I teach a course called Theory of Knowledge. One of the concepts we study is ‘faith’ as a way of knowing or gaining knowledge. I remember the “This I believe” series on the radio and then NPR. I have my students read several of the essays from the website and a few I copy from one of the books published. Then, they brainstorm and write their own essays. This spring, right before the Covid shutdown, one of my students committed suicide. I had returned his essay to him only days before; he’d written about the importance of love and relationships in life. Being able to share his essay with his mother and brother (who I had also taught) was a gift for all of us. I think the inspiration to have students write these essays was somehow a preparation for this sad experience. I like the suggestions here and may use the sentence stems to help those who struggle to get started.

Hello! I want to say that I had some difficulties in writing essays and statements. When I entered college, the first thing I encountered was writing a quality application.

thanks for sharing, this is really useful information for me!

thanks for sharing informative!

This looks like an amazing lesson plan and although it is late in the year I will try to use it. could you please send the grading rubric you used?

Hi, there! Because this post was written so long ago,we have unfortunately lost touch with the author, Cynthia Ruiz. From what we understand, she is no longer in the classroom. However, you may be able to connect with her on Twitter by clicking on the Twitter icon at the top of the post underneath Cynthia’s name.

If you are looking to create your own rubric, the section of this post called Assignment Guidelines links to the NPR website where Cynthia found the writing guidelines that she used as a basis for her own. In addition, there is another Cult of Pedagogy post on the single-point rubric , which you might find useful. I hope this helps!

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50 I Believe Essay Topics

To better train students on how to present their personal opinions on subjective matters, teachers will assign what is known as an “I Believe” or “This I Believe” essay writing assignment.

Designed to provide the reader with insight into the writer’s character, these essays are typically written in first-person point of view. The writer shares their beliefs on a particular topic – ranging from religion and politics to more personal subjects such as love and happiness – and offers supporting arguments for why they hold these beliefs.

The Challenges of Writing “I Believe” Essays

This type of essay prompt is a welcome break from more detail-oriented or researched-based writing assignments for many students. However, “I believe” essay writing assignments aren’t always easy.

It can be challenging for students to articulate their beliefs in a clear and concise way that isn’t argumentative or offensive to the reader. Students may also struggle to explain their reasoning behind these beliefs in a thorough and not overly simplistic way.

Despite these challenges, “I believe” essays can be an excellent opportunity for students to share their thoughts and feelings on important topics and learn more about themselves in the process.

Tips for Writing “I Believe” Essays

If you’re given an “I believe” essay assignment, here are a few tips to help you get started:

• Start by defining what it is that you believe. This may seem like a simple task, but it can be challenging to identify your core beliefs. If you’re struggling, start by jotting down a list of topics that are important to you – from politics and religion to family and friendship.
• Reflect on why each topic is important to you. Think about the reasoning behind your choices and how these reasons evolved over time. After all, your core beliefs are likely to have changed or grown since you reached adolescence.
• Determine which of your beliefs are the most important. Focusing on developing thought processes that support your beliefs. For extra help, consider sharing these thoughts with a trusted friend or family member for advice.

By reflecting upon your core beliefs and developing clear arguments to support them, you can craft a powerful “I believe” essay that will truly reflect your thoughts and feelings.

How to Write an “I Believe” Essay

To craft a well-written “I Believe” essay, students must forgo the typical essay structure of introduction, body, and conclusion.

Instead, the essay should be organized around a series of specific beliefs that the writer wishes to share. Each thought should be introduced with a clear thesis statement, followed by supporting arguments and examples.

The conclusion of the essay should wrap up the main points that have been made and leave the reader with a final thought to ponder.

Here is an example of how an “I Believe” essay might be structured:

Thesis: I believe that everyone has the right to love and be loved.

Argument: Everyone deserves to find love and experience happiness in their lives. This should not be limited by race, religion, socioeconomic status, or any other factor.

Example: I saw a video of a man proposing to his girlfriend at Fenway Park. She said yes and the crowd went wild! Now that is love. If they can find it, then so can we all!

Conclusion: Society should not stand in the way of love. Love is the most powerful force in the world, and we should all embrace it.

As you can see, the “I Believe” essay structure allows for a great deal of flexibility. Students can choose to focus on a variety of topics and can organize their essays in different ways. An “I Believe” essay can be an excellent opportunity for students to present their thoughts on important issues under a few simple guidelines. With a bit of planning and organization, this type of essay writing assignment can be a breeze!

What You Shouldn’t Do When Writing an “I Believe” Essay

To ensure that you are writing an “I Believe” essay and not another form of an argumentative or persuasive essay, avoid doing the following:

• Don’t provide evidence or use statistics to support your position – this is not an essay that calls for research.
• Don’t attack or criticize the beliefs of others – your goal is to share your own opinions, not to tear down those of others.
• Don’t go off on tangents – stay focused on the main points you want to make.
• Don’t speak objectively or in the third person – for example, don’t say “people believe that” or “studies show.”
• Don’t use filler words and phrases such as “I think,” “I feel,” and “it seems like.”

Use any of these 50 “I Believe” essay topics to help you brainstorm ideas for your essay!

I Believe Essay Topics About Life

• I believe that life is too short to spend time with people who bring you down.
• I believe that laughter is the best medicine
• I believe that we should make time for quiet reflection every day.
• I believe that the only thing that matters in life is love.
• I believe that we are all capable of change.
• I believe that it is never too late to learn and grow.
• I believe in the power of positive thinking.
• I believe that we should always be kind, even when it is difficult.
• I believe that there is no such thing as a coincidence.
• I believe in the saying “what goes around, comes around.”
• I believe that we are all responsible for our own happiness.
• I believe that the best things in life are free.
• I believe that it is essential to be grateful for what we have.
• I believe that it is never too late to achieve our dreams.
• I believe that we should surround ourselves with people who make us better.
• I believe that you can either love or hate something; there is no in-between.

I Believe Essay Topics About Education & School

• I believe that education is the key to a bright future
• I believe that children are our future and should be treasured as such.
• I believe that there is no such thing as a dumb question.
• I believe that schools should do more to celebrate diversity.
• I believe that homework is essential, but it should not be excessive.
• I believe in the importance of having a strong support system while attending school.
• I believe that standardized tests are not an accurate measure of a student’s knowledge.
• I believe that it is vital to find a balance between work and play while in school.
• I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn how to swim.
• I believe in the importance of recess and physical activity in students’ lives.
• I believe that there is no such thing as a bad grade.
• I believe that teachers deserve more respect and better pay.
• I believe that it is never too early to learn a foreign language.
• I believe that education should be free for everyone.

I Believe Essay Topics About Friends & Family

• I believe that family is the most important thing in life.
• I believe that friends are the family we choose for ourselves.
• I believe that it is essential to maintain close relationships with friends and family.
• I believe that there is no substitute for quality time spent with loved ones.
• I believe that family is not defined by blood but by love and commitment.
• I believe that we should spend more time with the people we care about and less time worrying about material things.
• I believe that it is better to have a few close friends than many superficial ones.
• I believe that it is healthy for friends to grow apart.
• I believe that competition between friends is healthy.

I Believe Essay Topics About Money

• I believe that money cannot buy happiness.
• I believe that it is essential to be happy with what you have, not what you want.
• I believe that people are more important than things.
• I believe that it is okay to splurge on something even if it means going into debt.
• I believe that it is better to give than to receive.
• I believe that money can’t buy everything.
• I believe that the love of money is the root of all evil.
• I believe in saving for a rainy day.
• I believe in investing in oneself.
• I believe in the saying, “money doesn’t grow on trees.”
• I believe that rich people should be forced to pay more taxes.

These 50 I Believe essay topics are sure to inspire your own original beliefs and help you create a powerful and unique essay. When writing your I Believe essay, be sure to focus on the beliefs that are most important to you and that you feel passionate about discussing. The best I Believe essays are the ones that are personal and reflective, so don’t be afraid to share your own thoughts and experiences.

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Interesting Guide to Writing a “This I Believe” Essay

Table of Contents

A This I Believe essay is a particular type of writing that needs to contain a personal experience on a particular subject. These types of essays define a particular belief to the reader.

If you’re looking for This I believe essay guidelines , this article is a great resource for getting started on creating a personal essay. There are tons of points to consider as you write your essay to show your connection with the statement of your belief. Keep reading to learn more!

What Is a “This I Believe” Essay?

“This I Believe” is a popular type of essay genre that enables the author to communicate a personal belief. Through a narrative, the author explains the origin of that belief or a period when that belief was put into practice.

In these essays, people write about the core beliefs that drive their daily lives. Ultimately, your personal motivation will keep you steadfast in your work and get you through the toughest times.

The 1950s radio program with Edward R. Murrow introduced the essay genre, which NPR continued in 2004. Since then, numerous people have loved writing and reading these pieces.

Significance of “This I Believe” Essay

A “This I Believe” essay is a personal reflection on the writer’s life, their influences, and what motivates them. It is a time for the author to take stock of their thoughts and inform readers of their thoughts, feelings, and motivations.

These essays can reveal a person’s life passages, extraordinary moments, and inspirations. “This I Believe” essay allows the reader to get a feel for your personality, your strengths and weaknesses, and your perspective on the world.

Write Using “This I Believe” Essay Guidelines

If you are writing a This I Believe essay, you will typically be giving your experience as a personal essay. In this essay, you will detail what you believe and why you believe it. Clarify the point you are trying to make. Keep in mind your intended audience and stay focused.

Here are some this I believe essay guidelines to help you craft a perfect piece of writing:

Tell a Captivating Story About Your Belief

Tell the readers when you came to your belief and how it affected you. However, keep in mind that it should be true. Be honest and genuine with your thoughts.

Your story doesn’t have to force others to share the same belief. Connect your writing to your life and be sincere about your beliefs. Only then you will have a good chance to dazzle readers with a compelling story.

Keep Your Essay Short and Concise

Restricting yourself to one page will keep your essay concise and readable. It’s recommended to keep your writing between 400-600 words. It shouldn’t be too long.

It shouldn’t take more than 3–4 minutes to read your completed document aloud. Thus, it’s crucial to include only the most relevant information while packing your writing with your ideas.

Make Sure You Mention Your Belief

When writing this I believe essay introduction , make sure to focus on your belief and describe it briefly in a few sentences. If you don’t mention your belief clearly, the paper might be confusing or fail to reflect the core idea you wanted to convey. You must concentrate on the most crucial details of your story as you need to keep your essay concise.

Write in the First Person Point of View

This I Believe essays should be about your own life, not someone else’s. So, you must use the first-person point of view.

Write an essay about your viewpoint without focusing on what other people ought to do. Your assignment is to share a true story from your life without equating it with any societal ideals or religious principles.

Be Genuine and Positive

One of the most important things while writing this essay is to be genuine and on a positive set of mind. Don’t say something you don’t believe. A This I Believe essay should not contain any editorializing, advertising, or religious content. If you focus on yourself, you’ll be able to articulate your sentiments.

A This I Believe essay is written in the first person point of view and includes informative, personalized details about the writer’s belief. The goal of the essay is to tell an underlying story that conforms to the above This I Believe Essay Guidelines. And the narrative leads from past experiences to the present. The readers understand the writer’s beliefs through their personal stories and life experiences.

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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Key facts about the abortion debate in America

The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade – the decision that had guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion for nearly 50 years – has shifted the legal battle over abortion to the states, with some prohibiting the procedure and others moving to safeguard it.

As the nation’s post-Roe chapter begins, here are key facts about Americans’ views on abortion, based on two Pew Research Center polls: one conducted from June 25-July 4 , just after this year’s high court ruling, and one conducted in March , before an earlier leaked draft of the opinion became public.

This analysis primarily draws from two Pew Research Center surveys, one surveying 10,441 U.S. adults conducted March 7-13, 2022, and another surveying 6,174 U.S. adults conducted June 27-July 4, 2022. Here are the questions used for the March survey , along with responses, and the questions used for the survey from June and July , along with responses.

Everyone who took part in these surveys is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories.  Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

A majority of the U.S. public disapproves of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. About six-in-ten adults (57%) disapprove of the court’s decision that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion and that abortion laws can be set by states, including 43% who strongly disapprove, according to the summer survey. About four-in-ten (41%) approve, including 25% who strongly approve.

About eight-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (82%) disapprove of the court’s decision, including nearly two-thirds (66%) who strongly disapprove. Most Republicans and GOP leaners (70%) approve , including 48% who strongly approve.

Most women (62%) disapprove of the decision to end the federal right to an abortion. More than twice as many women strongly disapprove of the court’s decision (47%) as strongly approve of it (21%). Opinion among men is more divided: 52% disapprove (37% strongly), while 47% approve (28% strongly).

About six-in-ten Americans (62%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to the summer survey – little changed since the March survey conducted just before the ruling. That includes 29% of Americans who say it should be legal in all cases and 33% who say it should be legal in most cases. About a third of U.S. adults (36%) say abortion should be illegal in all (8%) or most (28%) cases.

Generally, Americans’ views of whether abortion should be legal remained relatively unchanged in the past few years , though support fluctuated somewhat in previous decades.

Relatively few Americans take an absolutist view on the legality of abortion – either supporting or opposing it at all times, regardless of circumstances. The March survey found that support or opposition to abortion varies substantially depending on such circumstances as when an abortion takes place during a pregnancy, whether the pregnancy is life-threatening or whether a baby would have severe health problems.

While Republicans’ and Democrats’ views on the legality of abortion have long differed, the 46 percentage point partisan gap today is considerably larger than it was in the recent past, according to the survey conducted after the court’s ruling. The wider gap has been largely driven by Democrats: Today, 84% of Democrats say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, up from 72% in 2016 and 63% in 2007. Republicans’ views have shown far less change over time: Currently, 38% of Republicans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, nearly identical to the 39% who said this in 2007.

However, the partisan divisions over whether abortion should generally be legal tell only part of the story. According to the March survey, sizable shares of Democrats favor restrictions on abortion under certain circumstances, while majorities of Republicans favor abortion being legal in some situations , such as in cases of rape or when the pregnancy is life-threatening.

There are wide religious divides in views of whether abortion should be legal , the summer survey found. An overwhelming share of religiously unaffiliated adults (83%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, as do six-in-ten Catholics. Protestants are divided in their views: 48% say it should be legal in all or most cases, while 50% say it should be illegal in all or most cases. Majorities of Black Protestants (71%) and White non-evangelical Protestants (61%) take the position that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while about three-quarters of White evangelicals (73%) say it should be illegal in all (20%) or most cases (53%).

In the March survey, 72% of White evangelicals said that the statement “human life begins at conception, so a fetus is a person with rights” reflected their views extremely or very well . That’s much greater than the share of White non-evangelical Protestants (32%), Black Protestants (38%) and Catholics (44%) who said the same. Overall, 38% of Americans said that statement matched their views extremely or very well.

Catholics, meanwhile, are divided along religious and political lines in their attitudes about abortion, according to the same survey. Catholics who attend Mass regularly are among the country’s strongest opponents of abortion being legal, and they are also more likely than those who attend less frequently to believe that life begins at conception and that a fetus has rights. Catholic Republicans, meanwhile, are far more conservative on a range of abortion questions than are Catholic Democrats.

Women (66%) are more likely than men (57%) to say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to the survey conducted after the court’s ruling.

More than half of U.S. adults – including 60% of women and 51% of men – said in March that women should have a greater say than men in setting abortion policy . Just 3% of U.S. adults said men should have more influence over abortion policy than women, with the remainder (39%) saying women and men should have equal say.

The March survey also found that by some measures, women report being closer to the abortion issue than men . For example, women were more likely than men to say they had given “a lot” of thought to issues around abortion prior to taking the survey (40% vs. 30%). They were also considerably more likely than men to say they personally knew someone (such as a close friend, family member or themselves) who had had an abortion (66% vs. 51%) – a gender gap that was evident across age groups, political parties and religious groups.

Relatively few Americans view the morality of abortion in stark terms , the March survey found. Overall, just 7% of all U.S. adults say having an abortion is morally acceptable in all cases, and 13% say it is morally wrong in all cases. A third say that having an abortion is morally wrong in most cases, while about a quarter (24%) say it is morally acceptable in most cases. An additional 21% do not consider having an abortion a moral issue.

Among Republicans, most (68%) say that having an abortion is morally wrong either in most (48%) or all cases (20%). Only about three-in-ten Democrats (29%) hold a similar view. Instead, about four-in-ten Democrats say having an abortion is morally  acceptable  in most (32%) or all (11%) cases, while an additional 28% say it is not a moral issue. 

White evangelical Protestants overwhelmingly say having an abortion is morally wrong in most (51%) or all cases (30%). A slim majority of Catholics (53%) also view having an abortion as morally wrong, but many also say it is morally acceptable in most (24%) or all cases (4%), or that it is not a moral issue (17%). Among religiously unaffiliated Americans, about three-quarters see having an abortion as morally acceptable (45%) or not a moral issue (32%).

• Religion & Abortion

What the data says about abortion in the U.S.

Support for legal abortion is widespread in many countries, especially in europe, nearly a year after roe’s demise, americans’ views of abortion access increasingly vary by where they live, by more than two-to-one, americans say medication abortion should be legal in their state, most latinos say democrats care about them and work hard for their vote, far fewer say so of gop, most popular.

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Rhetiroc and Civic Life Portfolio

Welcome to rhetoric and civic life portfolio, i believe essay and podcast.

Hey guys, I am going to be talking about why I think that senior year is overrated. Everyone has such high standards when it comes to senior year. I think that people try so hard to make it perfect that it somehow always ends up backfiring. Regardless of your stance on this topic, I think it is important to always be positive and that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Starting my senior year, I was really involved with riding horses. During that time, I had my own horse, his name is Falcon. He was one the best things to ever happen to me. The life lessons he taught me are something I will carry on for the rest of my life. I knew that I wanted to pursue my passion for running. I was never able to really take running and track as seriously as I wanted to. This was due to being busy with horses. I knew that my dream of taking my horse with me to college was not going to happen. It was too expensive at the time being, let alone my college expenses on top of that.

I had to be real with myself and start the process of selling my horse. This was a hard pill to swallow. I knew he needed a home where they could give Falcon the time and care he deserved. He was just coming off an injury, so this was a good time to stay with him for a while to get him back into shape before sending him off to his new home.

During the fall of senior year, I played soccer. I did this to keep in shape for track which did help a lot. Soccer ended up being something I enjoyed and probably one of my favorite moments of senior year. Unfortunately, near the end of the season I broke my ankle. This kept me out the rest of the season after I worked so hard to be able to start for our district finals game. Regardless, we still won districts for the first time in school history.

I spent a few weeks off from running and finally got back into it in December. On Christmas day that year, my brother and I got into a severe car accident. I was lucky to only have the injuries I did, but I ended up tearing my PCL. The PCL is the biggest ligament in the leg, tearing this is very difficult to do. But just to my luck, I somehow managed to.

This put a halt to everything and made my family rush even more to try and find a home for my horse. I knew my track career was over and I thought I would never run competitively again. I would still go to every track meet in the winter season and take pictures.

Moving forward to the spring, I put a lot of work into physical therapy, and I am well enough to try and do throwing events for track. I was not very good at it, and I did not really enjoy it. But my dad was so happy to still see me out there no matter what.

Later in the spring, my mom got a message from the coach of the Alfred University Equestrian Team. She said that they were willing to take Falcon as a donation. We were unsure about this because we could sell him for a lot of money. But we knew that by going there, it would ensure that he was going to a great home. So, we signed the papers, and he was shipped off the Alfred.

It was one of the hardest things I had to let go of, but I still get lots of pictures and videos of him up in New York living his best life. I even went to visit him in the summer!

As for track, I now currently do club track at Penn State, so I am still able to pursue my passion for running, which is something I never thought I would do again.

In the end, although I thought that my senior year would be the end of the world, it was not. And now I am happier than ever. Everything happens for a reason. But senior year is still overrated!

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The Long and the Short of It: Lena Dunham on Her Nail Journey

By Lena Dunham

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My babysitter Noreen wore long acrylics in frosted pink that, to my five-year-old self, were the epitome of glam. I loved to watch her hands as she fried a grilled cheese, finger-combed watermelon-scented mousse through her bangs, or twisted the phone cord as she chatted to her boyfriend, Gene. Even when one broke and she had to hold it in place with a Band-Aid, I swooned at the impossibly adult je ne sais quoi of being a woman with nails to boot, imitating her by sticking strawberries on the ends of my fingers or forming my own with red Silly Putty.

Meanwhile, my mother and her friends were clean girls before there was a name for the aesthetic. As artists in the male-dominated ’80s, they were wearing loose-fitting suiting by Comme des Garçons and cutting their nails to the quick, partially for practicality (they were wielding paintbrushes and cameras, sculpting and performing) and also to prove that their femininity didn’t prevent them from playing in the big leagues—a stigma that culturally we’ve at least pretended to abandon. But, as always, it takes work to look effortless—my mother had her nails buffed and painted with a clear lacquer every other week, a process I watched like a hawk, often grabbing pinks and purples and begging her to give them a try. The closest she came was classic red for special occasions. Meanwhile, I collected Wet n Wild polishes and lined them up on my windowsill like I was the proud owner of a rainbow itself.

In high school in Brooklyn, long nails festooned with sunsets or airbrushed with the heavy tracks of monster trucks, screaming CAUTION against yellow paint, became an accessory as coveted as nameplate earrings and Timberland boots. (Like so many good things, nail art was co-opted from the hip-hop looks of people like Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown that began influencing us all in the early aughts and still do today. Throw in the kawaii nail art of Japan , and rough it up with runway-ready piercings and gems, and you had decades of trends.) My mother found acrylics “too mature” and made a highly specific rule that I could wear any nail color I wanted as long as it didn’t read as adult—baby blues, electric greens but absolutely no red, no coral, not even a pink. Through my 20s I continued to associate bright nails with personal expression, and was an early adopter of nail art salons like New York’s Valley Nails and Vanity Projects, where I’d watch with jealousy as the burlesque dancer in the seat beside me applied inch-long tips studded with faux rubies.

But once I reached my 30s, a combination of maturity, practicality, and the fatigue that comes with increased responsibility meant that the closest I came to turning a look was a few coats of polish on a special occasion—the rest of the time, it was a quick clip when they started to look ragged, stained with watercolor and pen, uneven, and stress-bitten.

But when the writers strike hit this past summer, suddenly I had oodles of time stretching ahead of me, nowhere to be and no time to be there. The last time I’d felt that way was long before I started my career, when I’d spend high school afternoons in the drug store testing colors on my thumb or a lazy Saturday in my earliest 20s requesting the technicians at Valley replicate everything from my dog’s face to oozing slime. Even when I went to Japan, a mecca of nail art, it was to shoot an episode of Girls and I was too rushed to decorate every finger, simply getting one of my tattoos re-created on my thumbs (although I did come home with boxes and boxes of press-ons, including a set that depicted smiling cups of pudding dancing on thumb and forefinger).

And so came my summer of nails, the longer the better, inspired by Zoë Kravitz ’s Catwoman, by early Lana Del Rey videos back when she called herself the “gangsta Nancy Sinatra,” by Lil’ Kim matching her nails to her pasties. I studied nail shapes (coffin? Who knew) and started a Pinterest, enjoying—in no particular order—’70s chevrons, a medieval harlequin pattern, ditzy florals, red glitter and black stilettos that looked like Morticia Addams was headed to a Berlin rave. It made every email I sent feel like an event and every book require a hand-selfie (helfie?). No matter your level of daily dress-up, your gender expression, or your age, there’s nothing quite like a nail to make every point you make feel, well, pointed.

I loved every second of it. Yes, it required reading a surprisingly lengthy article about how to text with tips (pro move: Use the sides of your thumbs, like you’re playing Nintendo), and I had to carry tweezers to remove my credit card from the ATM. (Pop-top seltzer cans? Out of the question.) But what I lost in efficiency, I more than made up for in the feeling of slinky glamour that my newly extended fingers gave me. (And as a girl with hands that resemble a bouquet of hot dogs, that’s always a boost, self-love be damned.)

“You’re texting like you’re 98,” my husband noted (though even he had to admit it was worth it for the back scratches).

But summer always fades to fall, and when our strike ended (hooray! We did it!) and it was time to head back to work, it became clear that my nails were going to be a hindrance when it came to everything from doing quick rewrites, to flipping through the pages of my binder on set, to leashing up the dogs quickly in the morning, to buttoning my jeans and lacing my sneakers (summer had been all nail-proof cotton dresses and old-school Adidas slides). And so off they came, revealing the kind of cracked nails you’d see in the “before” portion of an infomercial at 3 a.m. Paging Sally Hansen.

But when my Vogue editor approached me, suggesting I try a week as a clean girly (to quote the Gen Z’ers in my office) and a week as Miss Thang, I gladly accepted. After all, I was going to be manicured by none other than Michelle Class , who boasts clients such as Kate Moss (clean clean clean) and Lily Allen (no time for the short-nail trend, according to Michelle). The nail artist recently gave Allen a matte-gray coffin shape so long I would be forced to lie in bed all day. We would try an over-the-top moment of glamour, and then I would embrace the new desires of nail fetishists: Spring 2024 runways went for the viral “glazed doughnut” and “ballet-core” vibes (Christian Siriano, Sandy Liang), with Proenza Schouler showing a classic short crimson that still reads squeaky clean.

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After rescheduling with Michelle because my dog had an asthma attack and I needed not to have my hands in a gel machine so I could work her nebulizer (an early omen that epic nails might not work for me), we made an appointment for a Friday afternoon. As Michelle worked away, I watched the feed of footage from set on two iPads and dictated my notes to a patient coworker, my hands shaking with the desire to get back to typing. My kitten begged for treats as my (other) dog coughed up grass. I could do nothing about any of it. I felt grateful I am not yet changing diapers as I tried to unwrap a sandwich to little success, filling a not-yet-finished nail with an unintended scoop of avocado. When my husband returned home and asked why I hadn’t finished putting on the duvet cover, I simply held up my new almond-shaped gel tips—nude until just above the quick, with a tortoiseshell tip and an arc of gold—as explanation.

While these nails felt the best of any “ falsies ” I’d ever worn, light and natural, they were still precarious. They elicited oohs and ahhs from my colleagues, but consternation when it took me about 15 minutes longer than usual to rewrite the scenes for the day. Meanwhile, after three days of telling myself I would remember how to text with them on again (and three days of asking my husband to please do everything from pulling up my Spanx to telling my parents not to worry that I hadn’t responded to the family group chat), I took to leaving voice notes instead, all of which started: “Sorry, but I have fake nails at the moment.”

It wasn’t that I’d been good at handling the nails over the summer and had now somehow forgotten, but rather that I’d enjoyed my summer of the nail as a distraction from a strike that lasted months longer than we’d hoped, as concern for colleagues and below-​the-​line workers mounted and free time turned to free-​floating anxiety. The nails worked for carrying picket signs, reading books I’d kept in a pile by the bed all year, even painting murals on my walls (all the hobbies I adopted in place of my beloved day job). On those lazy days, I could take my routine slow, devising cunning tricks for doling out pet food from vacuum-​sealed packages, washing dishes like I was more breakable than the plates (nothing like a broken nail to remind you of our essential human fallibility). But by the end of a week with Michelle’s mob-​wife look, I had to admit—​sadly, because I felt like a pop star and criminal mastermind all at the same time—that it was clean-​girl time.

Hours before I was due to attend a film premiere, a lovely nail technician (who was as impressed by Michelle’s work as everyone, and felt it was almost a sacrilege taking a literal jackhammer to the nails) cut me back down to size, presenting me with so many impossible-​to-​distinguish nudes before applying OPI Bubble Bath . I felt my shoulders slump lower and my conviction that I could rob a bank without consequence disappear.

Luckily my stylist was there to talk sense back into me—​my looks for the evening included a Simone Rocha tulle cocktail dress bedecked in delicate blue bows, whose matching gloves would have been immediately shredded by my talons. Next was an Issey Miyake Grecian-​draped gown in sheer silver—and if there’s a fashion ambassador for the modern clean girl (which, we should note, isn’t just a term for girls, or people who shower a lot; anyone can be a clean girl with the right highlighter and Hailey Bieber –approved moisturizer), it would be Issey. I was reminded of my first Met Gala, when Hamish Bowles —a man I would trust in any style emergency—encouraged me to wipe off my nail art: “Not for right here, not for right now,” he smiled. Now I felt, with my child-length nails but adult sophistication, sexy in a more sly way. Plus, I was able to pull up my own underpants. Now that’s a win-win.

So, was there a victor in the experiment? Who had triumphed in the face-off between sleek practicality and sensual excess? The short nail may be winning on runways at the moment, but Michelle told me that her clients who are “long-nail people will always be long-nail people.” It’s not a trend for them, but a way of life. It would be easy to say that the devotees must have pampered lives, not working with their hands, but how many times have we seen someone dole out cash at a register or corral their kids with a nail as long as some pinkies themselves? The nail becomes a nexus of power for them, just as the absence of a long nail served the same purpose for the women I knew growing up.

And is it wrong to say that I may not belong to one sect or the other but am, instead, whatever the nail equivalent of bi(coastal) is? I love each expression precisely because of how different it can make me feel, taking me from a beacon of old-school femininity (with a twist) to something more practical but equally delicate. If the short nail is Audrey Hepburn, the long one is Sophia Loren. In modern terms, let’s say my Natalie Portman sun is facing off against my powerful Cardi B rising. And don’t we all contain multitudes?