The Other Wes Moore- Week of April 3rd

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Are we products of our environment or products of our expectations?

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        The book The Other Wes Moore, to summarize, is about two men with the same name, Wes Moore, and how drastically different their lives are from one another. The Wes Moore that wrote the book grew up in a wealthy neighborhood and in a good family, while the other one, the other Wes Moore, grew up in not so financially stable conditions. The other Wes Moore struggled in life: with money, education, parenting and not even trying to live but survive everyday. The author Wes Moore got a great education, and despite the troubles he faced was able to overcome them due to the resources he had available to him that the other Wes Moore did not. Once the author Wes Moore discovered his "doppelganger" and saw how differently they both lived, it made the author Wes Moore question the world around him. Why are some people so well off while others are not? Is it random? How can this be fixed? What is the core issue? Which begs the question of environment vs. expectation. There is no one key issue, necessarily, in situations like this but rather a number of different factors that affect a person's outcome that need to be corrected. Environment tends to be the factor people point to the most because it seems like the core issue, when in reality people confuse it for being the only problem because of how influential it can be.

        The reason environment has such a great impact is because it is apart of your life from day 1 of being alive, from the moment your born, a factor you cannot control, environment is there. If you are born into a harsh environment you will have to develop natural instincts and skills to help you live within it, which affects your personality and some of your core values including how you view the world. From there, expectations follow after, usually after you hit a certain age, for example educational expectations. If you live in an environment where your family cannot afford certain things, like say living in a decent neighborhood, you may not go to a town school with very good funding. Society views people in lower class positions in a certain way and will beat you down, so on top of not having good schooling your self-confidence is ruined by everyone around you. Eventually, the cards always feel stacked against you everywhere you look, what's the point in trying? I can't help myself and no one is willing to help me, I feel stuck, this is my life now. Environment, self-confidence, money, opportunity, welfare these are all different factors just witnessed in this one example. If you grow a plant in barren soil, and you don't do anything to change or improve the outcome: add fertilizer, extra watering or attention, or just move the plant somewhere else, then don't be surprised when nothing grows or the plant is not healthy.

        Growing up with Autism and managing ADHD, I have had my own struggles in certain aspects of my life. All of my physical and immediate needs were met: food, school a home etc., but most, if not all, of my problems were non-physical and internal, like socialization and comprehension skills. People around me always were impressed by my intelligence, represented by my grades, but were frustrated whenever I said things that seemed ridiculous or "stupid". When I told adults about my condition they would try to compliment me by saying how they would have never guessed I was autistic, that I was so passing, that I looed so "normal". Other kids my age who didn't know much about me were either put off by my personality, secretly mocked/bullied me, or if they did know would immediately switch their attitudes to talk to me like I was a toddler or baby. Some people only now autism, or disabilities similar to it, in it's most extreme form where it can make someone physically immobile, mute, or act in a child-like way. I am classified as high-functioning, meaning I don't have the most extreme form of my condition, hence why I'm "so normal", and means it's not so noticeable. This means that for me because people can't easily see my disability but act "strange" at times they automatically assume I am intentionally annoying or rude or offensive. I have had advantages and disadvantages in my life, and through my experiences learned for myself how to better manage them. In my opinion, both Environment and expectations matter, all factors matter because it creates a balance and there is no singular answer nor solution.

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