The Other Wes Moore
The Other Wes Moore’s Profile Essay A person’s success or failure can be determined by their environment, education, choices; a number of different things. The autobiography The Other Wes Moore takes a look at two boys with the same name and eerily similar circumstances who end up in very different places in life. Wes Moore spoke at convocation about his book and what he hoped that people would get from it. In the book he says “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” (Moore xi). These two men didn’t share the same fate because they each made a choice about what they wanted their life to become. The book truly demonstrates how the choices you make, make you. One Wes Moore showed that you can make the decision to not be a product of your environment or any other situation, and go on to be very successful in life. The way a person is shaped and guided in their developmental years does undoubtedly play a huge role in the type of person they will become people. A lot of elements come into play that helps to determine a person’s success or failure but at the end of the day the most important factor is a person’s choices. Whether those choices were made due to sways from the environment, education or influences is completely dependent on oneself. All people are accountable to themselves and in turn for their successes or failures. Environment can play a big part. Studies have proven that children in areas of poverty are far less likely to outperform students in affluent neighborhoods, but is that an excuse? The author Wes Moore and the imprisoned Wes Moore faced almost identical environmental challenges. The differences that landed these two on opposite ends of the spectrum were personal choices. Wes Moore decided to straighten up and do what not only his family wanted for him, but what he wanted for himself. He made the choice to not become a victim of circumstance while the other did not.
Cited: Moore, Wes. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2010. Print. "Popular Quotes: The Meaning an History behind "He Who Opens a School Door, Closes a Prison."" BookBrowse.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2012. <http://www.bookbrowse.com/quotes/detail/index.cfm?quote_number=247>.