Over the past few weeks our class has been working with Capitol Letters Writing Center on "This I Believe" essays. "This I Believe" is actually a radio series on National Public Radio and there is a chance that our essays could be on the radio. Capitol Letters is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization that has been doing a lot of writing workshops for students. And they came to our school to do a workshop with us. In fact, a couple days ago we recorded our essays.

Working on "This I Believe" has been a memorable experience. The Center's volunteers came in very confidently and very well prepared. We got started by brain storming, and once we'd all chosen our topics (what we believed) we started writing with the help of the volunteers. Out of these few steps spun a beautiful personal essay.

I took a lot out of this experience. I never knew that I could write a powerful essay just like that. Also, writing this essay really taught me about myself - taught me things I'd never realized. What? Well, I learned that sometimes (or always) I set my standards way too high. I'm a perfectionist, but I'm not perfect. That's not a good mix. SO, I have to try and help myself be confident in what my abilities are.

I also learned to take all those jumbled-up feelings from my head and put them, in an organized fashion, onto paper. Plus, now I'm more confident. I hope to do another workshop like this sometime soon!

What was recording our essays like? Well, it was pretty scary, to tell the truth. I was relieved that we got to practice it first, before we went into a little storage closet to record. But then, it was just me and the volunteer. The moment we'd all been waiting for.



Our essays were done!



Below are some statements explaining how we felt about participating in this workshop:

The experience helped me organize my thoughts. It also improved my writing skills.

-Malachi

Writing a three paragraph essay was like letting your feelings out and telling your paper about your personal life.

-Mary May

It felt great working with them because it helped let out all of my thoughts and how I felt.

-Ademir

I learned that writing takes time and shouldn't be rushed. I also learned that writing doesn't need to be perfect.

-Zahra

What I liked about the workshop is that the volunteers made me feel like a real writer and not just a kid writing an essay.

-Devin

The people from Captiol Letters walked us through the process and got us to access the deep thoughts that we never really thought about.

-Tobias

I had really accomplished something I would remember.

-Jonah

I felt so happy and good. I released my anger problems with the essay and not on other people.

-Nick