Student's essay broadcast on NPR

Each semester English professor Mark Harris assigns his English 101 students to write an essay and submit it to National Public Radio’s This I Believe program. Harris grades all the essays independently but has promised students that any  selected for broadcast will receive an automatic “A.” Recently, Harris had to live up to that promise when Daniel Flanagan’s essay , “The Choice to Do It Over Again,” was broadcast on July 20 on NPR stations throughout the country. The full text of the essay and can be read at http://thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=40929&topessays=1. 

“Flanagan was a high-school dropout in a dead-end job; a self-described loser. But when faced with the responsibility of fatherhood, Flanagan decided to change his ways and return to school. He believes we all deserve ‘do-overs’ in life,” is how the essay is introduced on the This I Believe Web site, www.thisibelieve.org. Flanagan, a sociology major, now resides in Redford with his wife and children, Blake and Gabby, and attends classes around his busy work schedule building garages and sheds in the area. 

This I Believe is an international project engaging people in writing, sharing, and discussing the core values that guide their daily lives. The project is based on the popular 1950s radio series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow. These short statements of belief, written by people from all walks of life, are broadcast on NPR and other public radio stations throughout the United States and Canada. In addition, they are archived at http://www.thisibelieve.org/ and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.