By: Chelsea Birchmier

I watched a video about a year ago entitled “The Power of Words.” I’ve watched it several times since then, and it makes me cry every time.

In the video, a blind man sits begging on the street with a handwritten sign: I’m blind please help.

After a few people toss a coin or two at him, a woman walks up and writes something else on his sign. Suddenly, the man starts receiving handfuls of money at a time. When the woman reappears later, the blind man asks what she did to his sign that made people so much more willing to help. She tells him she wrote the same thing he did but in different words. Then finally, the new sign is revealed: It’s a beautiful day, and I can’t see it.

Maybe it’s because I’m a journalist, or maybe just because I’m a student at a school like STA, but I can really appreciate the message this video conveys about the power of words.

As a journalist, I’ve learned to make every word count. The stories and columns people see in the paper and online are the products of research, interviews and the careful selection of each word to convey a powerful message. And then, there are restrictions.

Write this in 300 words.

Cut down your story so it fits this page.

Can you make your story more narrow?

It’s not easy work. But when you see that beautiful piece of work as a final product it’s so worth it in the end.

This year, I was incredibly impressed by the determination of my staff members in creating the GSA columns that seniors Katie Hyde and Mary O’Leary wrote. Each girl did an amazing job of eloquently describing her point-of-view. But behind these stories, there were also countless discussions, research, meetings and decisions that made these columns happen.

The very fact that we wrote this story leads me to another point: I’m proud to go to a school where people are not afraid to speak openly about their beliefs, even if they go against the grain. Never once have I been afraid to share my opinion because it’s different. While STA students hold their own beliefs firmly, they also listen respectfully to others’ opinions whether or not they support them. Because sometimes it doesn’t matter who’s right and wrong; what matters is that everyone has a voice.

So, thank you journalism and everyone on the Dart staff for showing me how powerful words can be.

And thank you, St. Teresa’s Academy, for showing me what it means to have a voice.