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The author, Wes Moore, moved Baltimore Maryland to the Bronx, New York after the death of his father. His father died from a medical misdiagnosis. His mother wanted more for him than what Baltimore could offer so she moved him and his sister to the Bronx to live with his grandparents. His mother worked 3 jobs to be able to afford Riverdale Country school which he was unappreciative of because he began to slack off and stopped caring about school completely. He says, "Disappointed with Ds, pleasantly satisfied with Cs, and celebratory about a B, I allowed my standards at school to become pathetic" (Moore 54). Wes admits that he has let himself go when it comes to school but he isn't taking into account the sacrifices that his mom is making for him to even have the opportunity to go to a school like this. The future that his mom is trying to build for him, he is slowly tearing it down because of his lack of work ethic and drive.

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The incarcerated Wes Moore lived in Baltimore, Maryland with his single mother, and older brother Tony. Wes had a father, he was an alcoholic and he lived in the Murphy Homes Projects. His mother was going to be the first person in her family to go to college but because of the cutting of federal funding for the Rhodes Scholarship that was helping her pay for college, she wasn't able to fulfill her dream to attend college. Moore writes, "The same streets had cared for her family, taught her family, looked out for her family for so many years. She wondered how long she would have to call these streets home" (18). The incarcerated Wes' mom, Mary, knew that it would be nearly impossible to make it out of the neighborhood she was living in now that her grant had been revoked. She wanted more for herself and for her family, but it hurt her to know that now that she didn't have the aid, she wouldn't be able to do so. She looked down her street solemnly, wondering when she would finally be able to move out and make something of herself.

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The incarcerated Wes Moore moved with his mother and his brother to a new home in Baltimore Country. This home wasn't far from his old one but it was simply not what he was accustomed to. People from Baltimore city usually bled into this town because of the better homes, and schooling oppertunity. Where Wes moved, he describes the houses on the street as "uniformed", and "white-washed". This is one of the first times he sees black and white people living together in such harmony, something he noticed about the owners of these homes is that they all came from somewhere else. At the time, the crack epidemic was extremely prominant in Baltimore city, which is on of the reasons for Mary Moores' move, because her son Tony was heavily involved in the drug trade and was once shot because of it, and because Wes had just failed the sixth grade. Although she couldn't go to college and provide as nice of a life for her children as she wanted to, moving to Dundee village was a start. Moore explains, "Baltimore City had a 70 percent dropout rate at the time. Tony had already joined that statistic; Mary wanted to keep Wes away from the same fate" (57). Mary knew her son Tony was already too far gone to be saved, all she wanted to do was keep Wes from following in his brother's footsteps. She wanted Wes to be better and she was doing everything she could to make sure of that.

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Valley Forge Military Academy and College, Eagle Road, Wayne, PA

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Valley Forge Military Academy and College, Eagle Road, Wayne, PA

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Valley Forge Military Academy and College, Eagle Road, Wayne, PA

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While going to school in the Bronx, Wes was getting himself into trouble, skipping classes, and getting bad grades. His mother was very disappointed in him considering she is sacrificing everything for him to go to this private school that he isn't appreciating. Wes says, “She was devastated. She was losing her son, and she was not sure how to turn the tide. We didn’t know it at the time, but once alone, we both started to cry” (Moore 89). Joy (Wes' mother) was struggling with which step to take next and ultimately, she decided to send him off to military school. She felt that Wes needed real structure in his life and needed to feel the true toughness of life and that is what military school was supposed to do for him.

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One day, while walking the streets of his town, Wes saw a young guy wearing a cool headset. The guy also had nice looking jewelry and it intrigued Wes. He wanted to know more about where the guy got the headset so he asked. He was answered with paranoid questions like, "who are you?", and "where are you from?". The boy told Wes that all he had to do to obtain the headset was stand in the same position he was, and be on the lookout for police, for doing this he would also get paid. After hearing more about the job, "Wes was sold. It seemed like a sweet setup. Simply wear a headset, hangout with new friends, notify people when you see police coming, and get paid at the end of the day" (Moore 58). Wes knew exactly what he was getting himself into, but to him, it seemed okay because he wasn't doing the drug selling himself. Wes is quickly adapting to this new neighborhood but in the complete opposite way that his mother wanted.

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Tony, Wes' brother, had been in the drug business for a long time and knew exactly how much money someone in the business could make. That's why when he saw his younger brother with new, top of the line things he became worried and began to question. Wes told him the same story he had sold to his mother "I made the money DJing", although Tony didn't believe it for a second. Tony was tired of Wes' lies and eventually they got into a physical altercation that ended in Tony walking away. It was hard for Tony to see Wes being a part of the life he so desperatly wanted to shield him from. Moore writes, "Wes wanted to be just like Tony. Tony wanted Wes to be nothing like him" (72). Tony was aware of his flaws and wanted to steer his brother as far away from the life he lived as possible. That is why when Tony realized his brother was in the same business he was, he had such an erotic reaction.

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While with his friend, the author Wes Moore had decided it would be a good idea to vandalize the side of a KFC. Despite all the values, and morals his mother was trying to instill in him, he was doing everything in his power to steer away from those values. While writing about his relationship with his mother, Wes writes "My desperation for her support was in constant tension with my desperation for independence and freedom" (82). Wes acknowledges that his relationship with his mother contains a lot of tension and he also recognizes that it is his fault but he isn't willing to give up the freedom and liberty that comes with the actions he is choosing to take part in.

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Valley Forge Military Academy and College, Eagle Road, Wayne, PA

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Valley Forge Military Academy and College, Eagle Road, Wayne, PA

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Valley Forge Military Academy and College, Eagle Road, Wayne, PA

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While in military school, Wes learned that acting the way he had been wasn't going to do him any justice. The treatment that he faced while being in military school changed his perspective on the fact that he needed structure in his life and military school is where he belonged.