The Seton Hill community's summer reading book selection was This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women. Every freshman received a copy of the book. Thursday afternoon, small groups led by faculty and staff members led a discussion of the book over a box lunch. Afterward, participants packed Cecilian Hall, where panelists read their own statements of personal belief. | ||
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| "Let me acknowledge at the beginning that the summer book discussion is a kind of strange event.... Instead of your normal Thursday routine, you end up spending two hours talking about this book instead. It's almost rude that we should interrupt your learning like that. But I'm not here to apologize. There's a lesson to be learned from this. Don't be fooled for a minute thinking that your classes are the only time around Seton Hill where you're allowed to learn things." --Geoffrey Atkinson (2.5Mb MP3) |
"I believe that God has a sense of humor. He is the funniest comedian you will ever know."
Julia Whidden (3Mb MP3)
"I believe that life is a perfectionist's worst nightmare. I'll be honest with you all right now, I wrote this speech at least fifteen times, and each time I ended up throwing it away."
Michael Washingon (2.4Mb MP3)
"Today can be the most wonderful day of my life. It can be the last day of my life. With these thoughts, I can say that everyone should live their life to the fullest."
Emily Heinicka (3.6Mb MP3)
"Nearly everything I need to know, and that I currently believe, I think I've learned at school board meetings.... I've survived seven elections, I've been beaten up by the press, made deep friendships and bitter enemies. I've been threatened, accused, betrayed, but most of all rewarded."
Barbara Hinkle (8.4Mb MP3)
"Go ahead, take that leap... I never really noticed how many opportunities I have been given until I started looking back at my past three years at Seton Hill."
Kristin Logan (2.6Mb MP3)
Julia Whidden (3Mb MP3)
"I believe that life is a perfectionist's worst nightmare. I'll be honest with you all right now, I wrote this speech at least fifteen times, and each time I ended up throwing it away."
Michael Washingon (2.4Mb MP3)
"Today can be the most wonderful day of my life. It can be the last day of my life. With these thoughts, I can say that everyone should live their life to the fullest."
Emily Heinicka (3.6Mb MP3)
"Nearly everything I need to know, and that I currently believe, I think I've learned at school board meetings.... I've survived seven elections, I've been beaten up by the press, made deep friendships and bitter enemies. I've been threatened, accused, betrayed, but most of all rewarded."
Barbara Hinkle (8.4Mb MP3)
"Go ahead, take that leap... I never really noticed how many opportunities I have been given until I started looking back at my past three years at Seton Hill."
Kristin Logan (2.6Mb MP3)
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| "What does a math professor believe? Does he even try to make statements of faith, where you can't prove it to be true?" Geoffrey Atkinson (2.4Mb MP3) |
Note... there are a few seconds missing from Geoffrey Atkinson's speech. Oddly enough, it was the bit where he said he never expected a journalist to approach him and take his picture. I had shut off my voice recorder because I didn't realize he was speaking next.
Nice coverage and photos! (you should consider submitting one to GL's 'photo of the day'!) The speeches were wonderful and I enjoyed the whole experience.