The Other Wes Moore Reflection

After reading the 2015 Common Read book, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, I have learned a lot about the importance of the choices we make in the present and how they affect our future. Along with reading the book, I attended the Poverty Simulation on October 27th and a discussion on the importance of youth mentoring on November 12th. I took away many lessons from each event.

One lesson I learned, specifically from the poverty simulation, was that living in poverty can be very stressful. In the simulation, I portrayed a nine-year-old girl living with her brother and grandparents. During the first “day” of the simulation, I wasn’t very stressed. I went along with my duties and thought the day went fairly smoothly. As the “week” went on, I felt myself becoming more and more stressed and upset with my situation. My

The poverty simulation gave an insight into what both Wes Moores experienced in their early lives. Both of their families had to make sacrifices just to make ends meet. Their parents and family members had to work multiple jobs to put food on the table. The discussion of youth mentoring also had a connection. Both Wes Moores lacked a father figure. Although both boys lacked their father due to different circumstances, that did not change the fact that each boy did not have that role model in their lives. Until he went to military school and gained male role models, the author Wes Moore only had his mother, grandparents, and older sister to look up to. The other Wes Moore only had his mother and his brother to look up to. Although his brother often discouraged from getting into trouble, he was not a good role model because he did not follow his own encouragement. Both Wes Moores could have benefited greatly from a youth mentoring program. Perhaps if they had mentors growing up, the author would not have needed military school and the other Wes would not have ended up in