Sophomores Share “This I Believe” Speeches During Upper School Meeting

February 7, 2022—Selected by their peers, five students from Class VI read personal essays during Upper School meeting. Based on the 1950s radio program “This I Believe,” students wrote and shared compelling essays distilling the guiding principles by which they live. 

The original radio program was hosted by acclaimed journalist Edward R. Murrow and featured essays from luminaries such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller, and Harry Truman to name a few, as well as everyday people ranging from cab drivers to scientists. Today, stories are archived on the “This I Believe” website, and also shared on NPR, weekly podcasts, and books; it’s also a project in classrooms across the country. At Winsor, sophomores are tasked with writing a “This I Believe” speech in English class and delivering it to their classmates. In turn, each class selects a speech to be shared with the entire Upper School student body.

English Faculty David Griffin introduced the project to the assembled students by quoting “This I Believe” executive producer Dan Gediman saying, “The goal is not to persuade Americans to agree on the same beliefs. Rather, the hope is to encourage people to begin the much more difficult task of developing respect for beliefs different from their own.”

Students took turns coming to the podium:

Ainsley Wang ’24 explored her all-consuming commitment to school and what it felt like when that passion waned. She shared, “there is no definitive purpose to the meaning of life” and now she “finally knows how good it is to be alive.”

Using the imagery of her father’s necktie—from serious red stripes to whimsical pink shrimp—Sofie Robinson ’24 confronted what it means to condense your personality for the workplace, and realized she doesn’t want to follow in her father’s footsteps. “I no longer want to go to law school,” she shared.

“My grandma forgot me. I was a stranger to her,” said Laura Massimo ’24. After her grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimers and passed away, her grandmother started forgetting too. Working through the anger and blame, she eventually forgave them both. “Forgiveness is the only way to not tear yourself apart,” she told the audience.

Eva LaFond ’24 wove a tale around the front cover inscription in a used paperback book of poetry. “I’m learning how to be fascinated by my own life,” she said. “I’m learning to take joy in egg salad stains, dog-eared pages…I’m learning from $2 paperback books.”

“I don’t believe that love is supposed to be this or that,” said Aimy Huynh ’24. Forced to watch Disney movies at church and endure a rigid hetersexual narrative about love, they realized, “My gaze was no longer directed at prince charming, it was directed at Cinderella.” With grace, they acknowledged, “Those Disney movies weren’t necessarily wrong, they were just misinterpreted.”