Silfee+Reading+Response+7

I enjoyed all three of the readings from "This I Believe" because they were all very inspirational pieces. The first was about a school teacher who also enjoyed boxing but never actually got in a fight with another person. He didn't like the idea of fighting others, but he believed in fighting //for// others. He spent every day fighting for kids at a school that wasn't prestigious in any way and was over crowded, but he wanted to help the kids that went to this school succeed and become someone, and that's what he did. I liked this story because people are always saying that faith in humanity is gone because of the way that most people act, but every now and then you hear about someone like Joseph Laycock who just wants to help people be better and it restores your faith in humanity in a way. The second story is about an African-American man who started off in a bad situation. Then, one day he wrote a poem about a girl that hurt him and he ended up really enjoying writing. He made something of himself and is now a playwright teacher of at-risk youth. This story is one of personal successes that are to be commended. The fact that this man changed his whole life by just writing a poem, is amazing to me. The last story is very touching. It's about a woman who is the grandmother of the author. She went from a poor, disowned Italian woman to a business owner in the United States and a beloved grandmother. She got married at the age of twenty-one to someone she didn't know in order to make something of herself and it worked. I think it's so amazing that she was able to come to America and basically teach herself everything she knows about running a business and being a loving and inspirational family member. I think all of these stories were written to show people that it's up to them to make a difference in their life and even if they don't believe they can, someone does.