Linden's Pensieve

For the final This I Believe podcasts post, we hear about a topic very important to me: friendship. A normally happy, carefree topic, Hannah, Andreas, and Carolin share times in their lives when they encountered difficulties and friends came through for them or they realized the power of friendship, the power of a smile.

Today, three students share beliefs that influence they way they deal with life’s most difficult times—including failure and success, rape, drugs, and death—and find hopeful and reassuring answers during their searching.

Today, three students share three different sources of strength: Karolina finds direction in her positive thinking, student 4 find peace and new friends because of her belief in our souls, and Katharina finds strength for everyday life in the lessons of the heptathlon.

Today, Charlotte tells us how she–a perfectionist–finally learned that life will go on even when the . Student 2 shares her love for music and making music, and student 3 relates a strong belief in the power of friendship.

Today we hear from students who express beliefs that developed as they became adults and looked back on their lives. The beliefs they speak about better equip them to deal with their lives as adults, for Carolin 2 as she learns to make decisions, for Julia as she realizes the value of family, and for Christoph as he finds the right balance of pride in his life.

Each of these students encountered a situation that made them stretch, grow, and learn about their beliefs and limits. For Jana and Miss Sprengel, it was a goal they had set for themselves. For Katinka, it took pushing herself in an unexpected way to realize what she was capable of, and for Sarah, it was the clash of what her parents had taught her and what she learned in school, and, much later, the election of Barack Obama as United States president.

In today’s podcasts, we’ll hear how these students’ futures were turned around by unexpected life events.

Today we hear from Thomas, who finds strength in music; from Sabrina, whose perspective on life was altered by her grandmother and her friend, Ralf; and Lisa, who went to Ireland for an adventure but came home with aspirations.

Today’s posts brings you three statements that show the positive impact those closest to us can have on our lives, whether related by blood or not, and even if the circumstances at first drive us through difficult lessons.

Three months ago, I had the best intentions of publishing a few posts on the NPR This I Believe series, but life just gets in the way sometimes, so here it is September already and I’m just now getting to it. No matter–what is to come in the next few weeks is more than worth the wait. Click to listen to the first three This I Believe student podcasts.