Traditions

Photo by ToZZ

By Annette Crank

I believe in traditions. Family traditions, holiday traditions, time honored school traditions, cultural traditions and personal traditions.  I cherish time spent with family carrying out our own special acts that are our own traditions.  As graduation nears for my daughter, Casey, I am extremely proud and can’t wait to place the thin silver chain around her neck that holds the floating opal, passed down by my grandmother.  All the girls on my father’s side of the family have worn this necklace for our graduations.  It symbolizes each of our accomplishments and creates a special bond, kind of like a secret club, between those of us who have earned the honor to wear it. As I prepare to help my daughter slip on that long, royal blue robe and pin the hat carefully to her head, I will place that thin silver chain around her neck and beam with pride as she begins the next chapter in her life.  I believe traditions build special family bonds, help shape our future and passes on the legacy of our ancestors to the next generation. 

Inner Beauty

Photo by David Castillo Dominci

By Christy Goines

I am fat, but I am beautiful. You may not think so, but you do not know me. Beauty is beneath the skin; beauty is me.

I believe in inner beauty.  It shouldn’t matter what we wear or what we look like. It takes more for someone to get to know us than to judge us by looks. The way we look has dominated the way we feel and has controlled the way we think. The world has taught us that beauty is on the outside, not in.

Women and Power

Photo by Photostock

By Sarah Rumford

For thousands of years, people thought that women must have a husband, must do what their husbands say, and must not make their own choices. Women are better than that, more powerful, more intelligent, and we can do anything that we set our minds to.

Women are beginning to learn that we do not need a man in our lives to be happy. Women also can make their own financial choices, and they can take care of themselves. Although women seem vulnerable, we are strong. Even though we make mistakes, we can overcome them and take control of the situation. Some women that I have met provide great examples of how it is to be on their own. For example, my mother raised me all by herself ever since I was practically a baby. She is the strongest person that I know. I have learned from her mistakes, as well as my own. She has taught me how to be independent and how to take care of myself.

What is the "This I Believe" Column?

In the 1950s, journalist Edward R. Murrow hosted a weekly radio series inviting listeners “to write about the core beliefs that guide your daily life.” At a time of political and cultural anxiety, the show asked Nobel laureates and everyday citizens to articulate their personal articles of faith even as it called them to listen carefully to the beliefs of others. In 2005, This I Believe was revived for National Public Radio as a way “to encourage people to begin the . . . difficult task of developing respect for beliefs different from their own.” This column will carry on that tradition by providing a forum for students and others to express their own core beliefs.