by STEPHANIE ESPINOZA/South Kern Sol
Author Wes Moore visited California State University, Bakersfield Tuesday evening to discuss his book ‘The Other Wes Moore.’
In his book he tells the true story of two kids who were born only blocks apart from each other. Both grew up in a single parent household in a tough neighborhood.
One goes on to succeed in life while the other ends up serving a life sentence. How does this happen?
Wes Moore doesn’t give us a definite answer.
What he can say is that our society is full of others whose destiny is just as important as ours.
Just as Moore mentioned, ‘no community is equal to the other. We all come from different neighborhoods and upbringings. However, we are not a product of our environment- we are a product of our expectations,’ according to Moore.
Every day we are faced with choices that will shape the rest of our lives. How we choose to go about our lives and use our talents is what matters in the end.
Most importantly, Moore asked the crowd to consider how we will all contribute to make humanity better.
He firmly believes that the biggest legacy we will be judged on is the legacy we’re going to build for others.
Moore said it’s not only important to pursue our own educational goals but also we should learn from others in order to help others.
‘Our communities need good teachers and mentors to avoid the tragedy of ‘the other’ because the expectations that others have of us also play a big part in shaping who we will become,’ according to Moore.
If there is one thing that Wes Moore can be sure about is that we can all make our communities better by making other peoples lives important to ours.
