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Covid-19 has swept the earth of people's lives but has also changed it for some people in many ways. As bad as the Virus is, the younger side of the population can use it as a learning tool. A lot of people, mostly teenagers, ignore the rule to quarantine and it can change their lives more than they know. If a teen gets the virus because they didn’t follow the rules, they can spread this to other people including their parents. If something bad were to happen to them they would lose their most crucial support in life. This can be financially or even mentally. Putting these two things aside, they would not have their parents anymore and it would be tougher for them to live. Even if a grandparent gets it and they pass away because the teen passes it to them, that’s on them, and it’s very hard to live with something like that. All the things listed went from something small to catastrophic. Drugs can have the same Consequences. In “The Other Wes Moore”, the other Wes Moore has dealt drugs and also used them. This is illegal and against the rules. Even after Mary catches his stash of them, and flushes them down the toilet, he continues to deal. People use drug dealing as an easy way of money and it usually leads to bad things in the future just like ignoring Covid-19 rules. “From everything you told me, both of us did some pretty wrong stuff when we were younger. And both of us had second chances. But if the situation or the context where you make the decisions don’t change, then second chances don’t mean too much, huh?” (Moore 53-54). This quote demonstrates how one choice that The other Wes Moore made with his second chance, really differentiated the futures of both Wes’. It shows that chances cannot be taken for granted and most of the time you only get a few. People with a lot of power and intelligence make these rules about drugs and quarantine for a reason but it can be tough for people of younger age to grasp why it’s dangerous to go against them, even if it doesn’t affect them at the time of doing it.

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In life, people usually do unwise things at younger ages. Most of the time they learn from these mistakes and try to correct them but other times they become a habit. When habits occur for long periods of time, they plant like roots and stick for the rest of your life. This piece of art shows the other Wes Moore as a character throughout the novel and what happened to him over time. The roots have grown in the soil and show him trying to escape the decisions he made in his youth. “We will do what others expect of us. If they expect us to graduate, we will graduate. If they expect us to get a job, we will get a job. lf they expect us to go to jail, then that’s where we will end up too. At some point you lose control.” (Moore 103) This quote demonstrates that because the other Wes did such bad things at his younger age, it was, in a way, expected for him to not succeed. Almost like bad roots growing into a bad tree. He lost control of his future at some point.  During the Interludes of the memoir, when Moore the author is talking to the other Wes, it is clear that Wes has become a better person and regrets the decisions he made. They all stemmed from a lot of smaller things from his childhood. An example of this is him not having a father figure. It’s very important to have a father figure in life and both Wes Moore's did not have one. Not having one, sometimes might be bad or rough for a kid growing up. The author Moores died when he was young causing him to be absent, but the other Wes only met his a couple of times. This was one of the factors that contributed to his irresponsibility and created a bad environment for him. He only had his mother to teach him the right way of things. That is just an example though. He did have multiple chances to do the right thing and evolve as a person but chose wrong. A comparison to this could be, when he was young he was like a sapling. A small tree that is easy to pull out, with not many consequences if you do so. He eventually grew into a tree, where it is very hard to pull out because all of the roots acting as bad decisions he made. If pulled out, it is damaging to the environment and ecosystem. These decisions he made cost him his life in prison and now he is planted there with the roots trapping him from ever having a normal life again.

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This painting/finger painting shows the difference between the two Moores lives. The brown, rotten apples, are an example of the other Wes’ life. It had the potential to be picked and put into a supermarket like any other apple, but stayed on the tree too long and eventually fell down, just like the other Wes’ life. The red apples are an example of Moore, the author. They are red, ready to be picked and eaten, and distinguished in a good way, just like how his life turned out to be.  “But I started to think more about his repeated defense, offered again and again in earnest: “‘I wasn’t even there that day.’ Did he think that through repetition it would become true? That if he just incanted the phrase enough the prison walls would collapse and he’d be able to walk back home? Did he think it could reverse time? How far back would he have to go to be innocent again?” (Moore 102) In this quote, the author Moore, is talking about how Wes is still trying to prove his innocence but he thinks Wes is too far fallen, just like the rotten apples on the ground.

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Going into the memoir, I was really lazy trying to get started on the reading. As I got further and further into it, I actually enjoyed it and wanted to read more. It was very surprising how their lives started so similarly but ended up to be complete opposites. The author Moore is an author, social entrepreneur, U.S army veteran and is even the CEO of a top poverty-fighting nonprofit called “the Robin Hood Foundation”. On the other hand, the other Wes has a life sentence in jail and hasn’t accomplished anything significant. What’s crazy though, is that both of their lives could have been each others. In my opinion, what the author Moore has done with his life, is a perfect example of what anyone should aspire to be or have. Something that inspired me and I think should inspire others is military school. I think this was the chapter in The author Moore's life that changed the outcome of his future for him. I also think it would have benefited the other Wes the exact same way it did for Moore the author. “As I started to think seriously about how I could become the person I wanted to be, I looked around at some of the people who'd had the biggest impact on my life. Aside from family and friends, the men I most trusted all had something in common: they all wore the uniform of the United States of America.” (Moore 106) Military school helped Moore the author become more open to the world and see people in a different way. The quote shows this because it’s talking about how the people he trusted and opened himself up to most, helped him get to where he wanted to be in life. Getting back to the point of military school, reading this section of Moore's life really inspired me to want to share this info with other struggling kids, just like both Moore’s. It also humbled me a lot, showing me how fortunate I should be for everything I have. A roof, food, a family, a great school and so much more. It showed me how to appreciate the smaller things in life and to not take chances for granted, especially second ones. This memoir definitely triggered a lot of different reactions and it made the book so much more interesting. It definitely taught me how to be a better person and even though things may seem tough, they will get better when you truly want them to.

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“I was taught to remember, but never question. Wes was taught to forget, and never ask why.

We learned our lessons well and were showing them off to a tee.” (Moore 10) This quote paired with this picture of a tree, perfectly shows the lives of both Moores. The two things both of them were taught to think,  grew into a way of life and the tree shows it. On the left branch, the tree has holes, bark missing, branches cut off and overall does not look very appealing. Meanwhile on the right, the branch is straight, full of bark and looks a lot healthier. The left branch being the other Wes and the right one being Moore the author. Something that is noticed though, is that they originated in the same place, in the same ground, on the same trunk but turned out totally different.