I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment.
It was certainly an excellent way to start out the semester! Our “This I Believe” projects are personable. They reflect who we are as people, rather than just what we can produce as students. It’s a completely different game than writing a rhetorical analysis or a formal essay. The fact that we could write about anything was a very freeing element to the project that I found to be a fantastic quality. Not only was the project itself great because of the liberty it allows, but it also exposed us to a lot of different TIB’s when we were first starting out the project. I thought that was incredible. I found myself listening to a ton of the different podcasts on the NPR website because they are fascinating. One that I will never forget is Tarak McClain’s This I Believe. This kid was seven years old when he recorded this. Absolutely freaking incredible.
The TIB assignment did come with some challenges. It wasn’t all easy-breezy work. There is considerable thought that has to go into articulating exactly what you believe. Our beliefs are so strongly tied into our sense of self that I found it difficult to name exactly what my belief was. Deep down I knew what it was, I just couldn’t put it into words. I also struggled, at first, with finding something unique and creative to write about. What makes TIB podcasts quite successful, I think, is a personal story that no one else has experienced. Finding that personal story and communicating it in an effective manner really required some careful thought and imagination. But this story is what makes them unique, while at the same time reinforcing the idea that we are all similar. The takeaways from these podcasts apply to everyone, no matter if the paths taken to those conclusions are different.
The “This I Believe” project was definitely a great way to start off the semester. I had fun writing my podcast and I think that speaks for itself.