Justification Paper #3

Paths Taken and Expectations Fulfilled: 

           Imagine two boys who had very similar upbringings. Both were born in Baltimore, Md, had absent fathers and single mothers, and both were named Wes Moore. Most importantly however, both boys were raised in poverty but only one boy was able to make it out of the hood while the other will spend the rest of his life in jail. One might ask how this is possible? Two very similar boys ended up having very different adult lives and this happened because of the paths they decided to take and the expectations that were fulfilled. The title, "Paths Taken and Expectations Fulfilled," for the chapters, The Land that God Forgot and Surrounded, describe the paths that both Wes Moore's decided to take and the expectations fulfilled by doing so.
          Wes Moore 1(author) and Wes Moore 2(convict) took different paths and therefore different expectations were fulfilled. Wes Moore 1, at an earlier age compared to Wes Moore 2, decided to do well in school and he eventually became to be a sergeant of a platoon at his military school. At that moment, people expected more from Wes 1; they wanted him to really succeed. Wes 1 choose to enlist in the army, become a Cecil Rhodes scholar, study abroad in South Africa, apply to the White House Fellow program and was accepted. Wes Moore 1 did and is currently doing amazing things in his life because he paved his own path to success. Once he achieved all of these wonderful goals, his friends, family, and mentors had their expectations fulfilled. Wes Moore 2 on the other hand, did not pave his own path to success; instead he let others pave his path to jail. Wes Moore 2 let himself be negatively influenced by others and even though he tried to get out of the drug business, he was back into it just a few months later. Because of this, other people expected Wes to fail, which is exactly what he did. Wes Moore 2 was convicted of murder in the first-degree and sentenced to jail for life. Many might argue that the environment that Wes 2 grew up in affected his decision to hurt others but the fact is Wes Moore 1 came from the same conditions and greatly prospered and succeeded. Everyone makes mistakes, but how is it alright to make the same mistake numerous times?
            The title, "Paths Taken and Expectations Fulfilled," for the chapters, The Land that God Forgot and Surrounded, describe the paths that both Wes Moore's decided to take and the expectations fulfilled by doing so. Both boys made conscious decisions that had an impact on their lives. Regardless of race and the environment that these boys grew up in, one boy used these important decisions to make his life better while the other boy did not.