It’s the beginning of a new year, and we at This I Believe are looking back at some of the most inspiring personal stories we featured in 2015. Click on the links below to revisit some of the most memorable essays from last year.

1. Moving Beyond Stereotypes
2. Less Is More
3. The Grilled Cheese Principle
4. Misspelling the Word “Of”
5. Greetings
6. Getting Lost
7. Love Without Requirement

We can give with our money, we can give of our time, we can give with a smile and an open heart. In this season of giving, our essayists offer their beliefs on the importance of connecting and sharing with each other. Happy holidays from This I Believe.

1. In Giving I Connect With Others
2. Here Comes (the Real) Santa Claus
3. All The Joy The World Contains
4. Why I Close My Restaurant
5. The Designated Celebrator

Our world comprises much religious diversity. Yet regardless of our faith and its rituals, we all have the opportunity to care for one another, especially at this time of year. Click the links below to read how these essayists have embraced and been embraced by spiritual differences.

1. The Space Between Us
2. The Virtues of the Quiet Hero
3. Expressing True Faith
4. In the Spirit of Peace and Joy
5. The Gift That Keeps on Giving

“December 7, 1941: A day which will live in infamy.” Seventy-four years after President Roosevelt spoke these words, we still remember the attack on Pearl Harbor and how the events of that day changed the world forever. Click the links below to read essays in honor of Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

1. To Live with Uncertainty
2. Word of Honor
3. I Never Stopped Believing
4. The Luckiest Generation
5. Everyone Deserves Respect

November is National Adoption Month, and many organizations around the U.S. are working to bring awareness to the creation of families through adoption. Whether domestic or international, open or closed, adoption provides an opportunity for children and parents to find their “forever” families. Click the links below to learn how adoption has inspired belief among these essayists.

1. Grabbing the Baton
2. The Bond Between Mother and Child
3. Becoming a Parent Is a Gift
4. The Power of Love to Transform and to Heal
5. Considering Adoption

Thanksgiving marks the start of the holiday season, with the attendant gatherings of family over food and drink. Regardless of the context, sitting down to share a meal can affirm our connections, our roots, and our traditions. Click the links below to partake of these beliefs about food and family.

1. Doing Things the Slow Way
2. Come to My Table
3. Rice for Thanksgiving
4. A Home-Cooked Tradition
5. Finding Acceptance in Macaroni and Cheese

Many say that teaching is the most noble profession in the world. And a lot of teachers also say it’s the world’s hardest. Teaching can be fun and invigorating, challenging and exhausting, all at the same time. To celebrate National Education Week, click the links below to learn how teaching has inspired lifelong beliefs for these essayists.

1. A Taste of Success
2. You Can Get There From Here
3. I Believe in Change
4. This Is Why I Teach
5. The Teacher

There is perhaps no time that belief is more emphatically tested, and acted upon, than in war. For this Veterans Day, five essayists who served in the American military from World War I through the Iraq War tell how their experiences shaped their beliefs.

1. Toward a Far, Far Better World
2. Revelations on a Bomb Run
3. An Equal Place on Earth
4. Patriotic Ponderings
5. We Will See the Job Through

How do you react when a jury summons arrives in your mailbox? Do you dread the thought of sitting in the jury pool, or do you welcome the opportunity to play a crucial role in our system of justice? Click the links below to discover what these essayists believe about jury duty.

1. The Importance of Jury Duty
2. A Gift From Our Democracy
3. To Escape Or Embrace Jury Duty
4. Willful Ignorance

There have been many revolutionary developments in the world of science in the last 100 years. And This I Believe essayists from both the 1950s and today have been at the forefront of some of the most life-changing discoveries in their lifetimes. From Albert Einstein to Brian Greene, click the links below to read the beliefs of these scientists.

1. An Ideal of Service to Our Fellow Man
2. Science Nourishes the Mind and the Soul
3. Living at the Science-Religion Interface
4. The Power of Mysteries
5. The Tense Middle
6. Nature of the Species