Collection of Thoughts

I Believe...

This was a journal writing we did in English class. We listened to a recording of Jackie Robinson on a radio station in the 1950s called This I Believe. It's starting up again, and it's a really cool thing. They have a website, http://thisibelieve.org/ and you can search Jackie's speech. After we listened to it, my teacher asked us to write a short essay of our own. He wanted us to have voice, our own opinions. We had to start out the "essay" with 'I believe.....' and continue from there. We were supposed to only spend half the class on this, but we ended up using the whole class to write. :/ anyway, it took me a little while, but this is what I came up with....

(P.S. I did not edit this, this is how it flowed from my brain onto the paper.)

I Believe.

I believe in good music. It may seem unusual to most people my age, but that's how I judge a song. People often ask me what kind of music I like. I respond with: The Beatles, John Lennon, Lady Gaga, Show Tunes, Adele, and so on. Most of the time, I get an odd look, and yes, it is odd. Most of the people my age like to stick to one genre that they like. I'm all over the place because I like songs that have a great message. Now, don't get me wrong, a song with a strong back beat gets me dancing just lie everyone else, but just listening to those certain songs that have a deep, beautiful lyrics can put me in a calmer state. Even Lady Gaga. The thing that bothers me most about our generation is our influences. The songs on local radio stations (I took out the station numbers, since they are different everywhere) have degrading topics and make it sound like drinking and sex are okay to do because its fun. Why do they try to drill that into their minds? People everywhere are trying to 'fix' our generation, attempting to lessen out issues we have today. If they want us to change so much, why doesn't the music change too? Music is one of the most powerful influences on the human race; why not make it a positive influence, so that everyone can benefit?

I believe in good music, ones that have meaning and worth, rather than empty, counterproductive, and repetitve ones. Songs that 'speak to your soul' so to speak, is the kind of music I think is best. I don't judge it by the type of music, although it does affect how much i like the song.....

and that's where I stop. Thoughts? I'd love to hear yours. If you like it, please vote so I know if anyone else agrees with me :)

thanks guys,

Emily <3