Description of project
"This I Believe" is a project based on a radio program first conceived in 1951. This radio program instructed people to write a brief but colorful essay about what they believe, what their values are, and what has driven them to this. Our project takes obvious inspiration from this, and even has some of our essays planned to be aired on the local radio station, KDUR. These essays are, when aired, two minutes long, but most essays are lengthier, due to their lack of abridgment for radio airing purposes.
We started working on this project in order to
1. Gain insight on ourselves and really lay out what we believe, if we hadn't already
2. Share with the world, or at least our peers, our beliefs and the logic behind our thinking
By writing these essays, we achieve a level on introspection deeper than that of simply "thinking about it". The fact that we're given the opportunity to air our essays and beliefs on a public radio station is very one of a kind, and this project allows us to do that, if we're willing.
As for preparation, I can't say that I personally did too much. I've generally been considered to have a knack for writing things. Plus, writing about myself and using stories to convey messages isn't new to me, as I've had somewhat similar projects presented to me in the past. Because of this, I can say that I really just sat down at my computer and wrote. Of course, I still revised the project, and polished it as much as I could to get it to where it is now.
Challenges:
The hardest part of this project was simply finding people to work with. As peer critiques are an essential aspect of any writing project, I had to be sure I could get some. Unfortunately, I was gone for a week as the project started, and missed the days we were simply assigned partners. Other than this, I can say the project was fairly easy, although I suppose I do have some room for improvement on keeping my ideas in line when writing. If I had to do this project again, I would only really record earlier, as yes, I did wait until the last minute to do so.
Celebrations:
My favorite part of this project was the recording. It happened outside of school, so of course one can assume this. For it, I huddled myself into a closet at home, late at night so as to not have any outside noise interfering with my audio. After the better part of an hour, I had a finished product! Although it doesn't take much thought to say so, I am also proudest of my recording. Despite it not taking all too long, I think I did a great job, and it came out very well for the amount of work put in.
Growth:
To re-state myself... My name is TJ Ehlers, and I believe that beliefs are the best thing about an individual, and the most defining factor of one. Beliefs are something that shape people to the highest level possible, and really can have interesting chemistry with other beliefs (please note, I do not mean "chemistry" in the sense of two lovers having it). Writing out my beliefs like this has really helped me to narrow down what I stand for, and helped to clarify my thoughts about it. Funnily enough though, this project has likely whittled off some more minor beliefs that I've had to make room for a larger overbearing one, namely, perspective. As for sharing this belief, I can't say that it's changed much. I think people have for the most part known that I believe in perspective, and that I think it's vastly more important than any other aspect of one's life.
We started working on this project in order to
1. Gain insight on ourselves and really lay out what we believe, if we hadn't already
2. Share with the world, or at least our peers, our beliefs and the logic behind our thinking
By writing these essays, we achieve a level on introspection deeper than that of simply "thinking about it". The fact that we're given the opportunity to air our essays and beliefs on a public radio station is very one of a kind, and this project allows us to do that, if we're willing.
As for preparation, I can't say that I personally did too much. I've generally been considered to have a knack for writing things. Plus, writing about myself and using stories to convey messages isn't new to me, as I've had somewhat similar projects presented to me in the past. Because of this, I can say that I really just sat down at my computer and wrote. Of course, I still revised the project, and polished it as much as I could to get it to where it is now.
Challenges:
The hardest part of this project was simply finding people to work with. As peer critiques are an essential aspect of any writing project, I had to be sure I could get some. Unfortunately, I was gone for a week as the project started, and missed the days we were simply assigned partners. Other than this, I can say the project was fairly easy, although I suppose I do have some room for improvement on keeping my ideas in line when writing. If I had to do this project again, I would only really record earlier, as yes, I did wait until the last minute to do so.
Celebrations:
My favorite part of this project was the recording. It happened outside of school, so of course one can assume this. For it, I huddled myself into a closet at home, late at night so as to not have any outside noise interfering with my audio. After the better part of an hour, I had a finished product! Although it doesn't take much thought to say so, I am also proudest of my recording. Despite it not taking all too long, I think I did a great job, and it came out very well for the amount of work put in.
Growth:
To re-state myself... My name is TJ Ehlers, and I believe that beliefs are the best thing about an individual, and the most defining factor of one. Beliefs are something that shape people to the highest level possible, and really can have interesting chemistry with other beliefs (please note, I do not mean "chemistry" in the sense of two lovers having it). Writing out my beliefs like this has really helped me to narrow down what I stand for, and helped to clarify my thoughts about it. Funnily enough though, this project has likely whittled off some more minor beliefs that I've had to make room for a larger overbearing one, namely, perspective. As for sharing this belief, I can't say that it's changed much. I think people have for the most part known that I believe in perspective, and that I think it's vastly more important than any other aspect of one's life.