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The Other Wes Moore

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The Other Wes Moore
Ball State University Many people, in their lives have many monstrous people or moments that shape them to the person they are currently. This molding of personality, however, can have a positive or negative effect on a person. It can permanently form a person’s personality for the rest of their lives. Even though Wes Moore is enrolled in a very sophisticated school, that being Riverdale, the school could not help Wes Moore in the way that Valley Forge can. The problem with Riverdale does not entirely lie in the school system, it lies in the surroundings around the school system. The drug invested streets and all of the violence makes it extremely hard for Riverdale schools to be a suitable place to get an education. Temptation surrounds the school system and it cannot escape from it. Not having a whole lot of disciplinary actions for unsuitable behavior also causes the school system to crumble away from the best, “The problem was that I wasn’t even showing up half the time,” (Moore 76). The author Wes Moore does not have the discipline for not going to his designated classes. Even though Wes Moore’s start of school is a little rocky, he gets a wakeup call when he arrives at Valley Forge Military Academy. This military school does not play around with Wes in the slightest. At first, Wes thinks he can do whatever he wants and does not have to listen to anyone or anything, not even First Sergeant Anderson. The Sergeant wakes everyone up and forces them into the hallway. Wes Moore, however, does not believe that he has to get out of bed for anybody. The Sergeant keeps drilling Wes to get out of bed by saying, “Get your Goat-smelling ass out of the rack!” (Moore 86). Wes, however, stands his ground and does not move an inch. The Sergeant then leaves to make Wes think he has won this battle between the two of them. Sadly, Wes Moore is mistaken. Suddenly eight students at the military school pick up Wes’ bed and flings him onto the hard
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