This I Believe, Inc.

This I Believe Essays from WPSU Listeners

Displaying 1 to 25 of 304

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Leah, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania: I remember the day I told my parents that I had finally decided what I wanted to be when I ``grew up``. My announcement that I wanted to be a zookeeper was met with some shock, and a bit of dismay. Scooping poop for a living was not quite what my parents had dreamed for me. But I was adamant, and alas, my parents supported my decision and I began my collegiate journey with an internship at the ...

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Robert, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania: In 12th grade I was 17 years old, so during that time I was considered the best student in class. I was dedicated only to my studies. There was not any distraction in my mind. I was only focused on spending time doing my homework, searching for information, reviewing and studying my notes. Because of that, I got the valedictorian that year, and I was very proud of my self. What I had in mind w...

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Timothy, State College, Pennsylvania: Spontaneity takes a lot of preparation, in particular an off the cuff joke. That may seem strange but I suspect the most humorous and insightful among us are actually practicing their art in their spare time. The most difficult task in a well prepared spontaneous joke is managing to the find the appropriate situation to tell it in. And that may be the most important ingredient. For me persona...

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Trevor, State College, Pennsylvania: Most of us have had the opportunity thrust upon us, to learn that life is not always as it seems. Sometimes life seems simple, sometimes life is hard. Sometimes life seems easy, sometimes it leaves us scarred. There are only two guarantees in life: life after death, and death after life. The rest is all perception. Life is a paradox. Life is inexplicably simple, and yet for each of us, life is hor...

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Clint, state college, Pennsylvania: I’m standing on the dam. I throw out my line into the pond. I feel a tug and pull back and reel it in. It’s a huge catfish. There is just one problem; I can’t get the hook out of the fish’s mouth. My dad comes over and takes the fish off the hook. He is lecturing me on how I am sixteen years old and I can’t get a fish off a hook. I know I’ll hear it from the rest of the family, but I don’t care, b...

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Julie, Port Matilda, Pennsylvania: When asked, “Is love right?” almost everyone will immediately say, “Yes.” However, problems arise when the classic love, love between a man and a woman, is replaced by love between members of the same gender. Mainly due to religious reasons, this love is commonly misconstrued as ‘wrong’ or ‘sinful’, resulting in fierce prejudice against the LGBT community. Being a bisexual in high school, I have e...

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Lara, Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania: This I believe . . . ``To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.`` On my mind this morning is rubber, a lot of rubber. Last week the swing set we ordered for the backyard arrived in two large boxes that now sit on the porch. My husband and I, on track to be parents of the year, are investigating what, if anything, to put under the monstrosity to protect the...

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Nathan, Houtzdale, Pennsylvania: I recently visited a small town called New Hope. It is located on the eastern side of Pennsylvania right along the Delaware River and next to Lambertville, New Jersey. While strolling the streets with my girlfriend and her family, I started to notice all of the people around me. There were so many bikers. As we were talking my girlfriend`s father brought up a valid question that had us all thinkin...

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Michele, State College, PA: Last night I ate a salad of radishes, field greens, and asparagus. Â The ingredients never sat on a grocery store shelf. Less than 2 days ago they were still stuck in the ground. I`m one of thousands of Americans who are supporting local farms as a member of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. In exchange for a membership in Tait Farm, I get a weekly ``share`` of freshly picked pro...

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Mary, Snow Shoe, PA: I believe in drawing. I believe in drawing so you can be yourself. When I start off with a single blank piece of paper I make a masterpiece of my emotions. It doesn`t matter if I am mad or sad. I draw what I feel. Once I was really angry at my parents. Angrier than a bull. I stormed upstairs to my room. I found my pencil, crayons, markers, and my paper. I threw everything down on my desk and ...

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Ken, State College, PA: Today a dozen people died between the pages of a newspaper. They were sick, they died of old age, they were in accidents, they were murdered brutally, they killed each other. Today a hundred people died inside a television screen. They were actors, gored up for fun. Today two other people died inside a television screen. They were school students, murdered by a deranged classmate. Today a mil...

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Lucy, State College, PA: I believe that every human has an obligation in this world to act on behalf of the powerless. Once, when I was in ninth grade, at the same time when I hoped to break through the surface at graduation at least halfway cool, as well as get past the awkwardness of junior high, I was eating lunch in the school’s high-ceilinged cafeteria laughing at jokes and making jokes to impress my friends. As I...

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Danielle, Boalsburg, PA: The television shows I watched in middle school all had one thing in common: sibling rivalry. Lizzy McGuire’s little brother was always trying his best to embarrass her; Raven’s little brother demanded to be paid to help her with small favors; and Drake and Josh’s little sister delighted in tormenting her brothers to no end. You’d think that because I grew up with these shows, I too would desp...

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Carrie, State College, PA: My prevailing memory about China was the heat. The sun beat down mercilessly, furiously upon the earth as if it took some diabolical glee in scorching its inhabitants. The air hung limp and heavy; bloated with minuscule droplets of water suffocating it. The atmosphere seemed on the verge of bursting in any moment as if the heat and moisture would all escape in one giant, cool sigh. It was on one o...

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Regina, State College, PA: I believe in teddy bears. Almost every child has a consolation creature, whether itâ€™s a stuffed lion, soft blanket, or plastic Barbie; yet many children grow up and lose track of their Mr. Fluff. The comfort friend migrates toward the top shelf on the wooden bookcase or the dusty corner under the bed and becomes nothing but a neglected memory or pleasant decoration. As the creatures are negle...

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Sally, State College, PA: I believe in dogs. Dixie, the dog my siblings and I grew up with, was a beagle/springer spaniel mix and a mother hen to our family. The people she loved she loved with all of her doggy soul. Every day when my father came home from work, Dixie would race to the door, wiggling her butt like Chubby Checker doing the twist until the door opened and Dad knelt down to pet her. She cried as he said, â€...

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Nicole, Port Matilda, PA: I believe, as the old clichéd saying goes, that you cannot judge a book by its cover. Just like the majority of human beings out there, I tend to be pre-disposed to make assessments on someone’s character or lifestyle based on their outward appearance. Recently though, I have come to realize how truly detrimental this innate reaction toward other people can be. When I first realized one of my c...

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Rachel, State College, PA: I awoke this morning to a slight pulsing of my left big toe; think of the car next to you at the stoplight whose bass is way too loud and you feel the vibration sitting 20 feet away, that nagging feeling. The pulsing is the result of my clumsiness after dropping my skate--blade down-- onto it yesterday. I threw my covers off and swung my legs up into the air while still laying down so I could see ...

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Morgan, Pine Grove Mills, PA: ``Morgan, if you don`t finish your vegetables you won`t get any ice cream tonight.`` As a young child, I thought vegetables were gross and eating them would often ruin my day. I would sit and play with them on my plate, wishing I had a dog to feed them to. But my mom would always say those magic words. I would then lick my plate clean because eating ice cream each night was the highlight of my ...

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Sherry, State College, PA: I stood on the overcrowded bridge, elbows resting timidly on the rail, and stared goggle-eyed at the fantastic spectacle suspended ninety feet in mid-air above the cold, uninviting lake. To passersby, it was just a typical vehicle of safe terror - a roller coaster - tweaked into a unique attraction dubbed the ``Boston Tea Party.`` But to me, the intimidating jet black boat, hovering on twisting st...

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Eli, Port Matilda, PA: I believe meat is murder. I think it`s downright cruel and disgusting that people abuse, mutilate, and slaughter innocent animals just for their palatable pleasure, and that we turn a blind eye to the suffering of other living beings. Don`t get me wrong – I used to eat tons of livestock in the form of juicy burgers and down nuggets by the dozen. But at that time I never gave any thought to what, o...

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Harley, Duncansville, PA: I believe a moment lasts a life time. Moments can be remembered if you think they are very special to you. I have very many special times in my life; I can remember such times like when I was very little. This favorite moment of mine that I remember was from when I was young. I had remembered my mother saying to me that her Bobby needed help, that she was having money problems. So my mother, bro...

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DeAnna, Bellefonte, PA: Music is Awesome What is music and why does everyone listen to it? This question always come to mind when someone says, â€œlisten to this.â€ We as a culture have always had music, but my big question is who decides what music is. Is music just a bunch of noise that we find pleasurable? I believe that music is our way of expressing ourselves through an art form. Ther...

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Trey, Hollidaysburg, PA: The Outdoors From the stars in the sky to the animals that used to run where we have polluted the earth with our luxuries. This is what I believe is the outdoors. I myself love the outdoors and live there. There are some people that think the outdoors is just a place that should be turned into a mall or some sort of shopping complex. This land was only nature and its surroundings: no industries, ...

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