Elijah Brown

The Other Wes Moore describes the life of two boys and their city upbringing during the 1980s and 1990s. The book’s first three chapters set the tone of the book, revealing a common theme of rough beginnings. Drugs, gangs, crime, and violence were rampant and highly enticing for children. The book described how the two boys and several people close to them became engulfed in that lifestyle, resulting in different consequences. In addition to the environmental factors that also haunted the two boys, they also had to deal with the personal factors that plagued them as well, namely the absence of a father or role model. Without the guidance of a positive person to follow after, both Wes Moore boys moved toward a dark path. However, chapters four through six became the turning point in their story, symbolizing the prevalent theme of the role of influences. The author Wes Moore had a greater nurture influence to guide his story. After being transferred to private school when Wes moved to...

The Other Wes Moore describes the life of two boys and their city upbringing during the 1980s and 1990s. The period was a tough time for city urban living, as many had lived paycheck to paycheck or were impoverished. Drugs, gangs, crime, and violence were rampant and highly enticing for children. The book described how the two boys and several people close to them became engulfed in that lifestyle, resulting in different consequences. The two boys had several similarities, including sharing the same name Wes Moore. However, their life outcomes differed, with the author improving his life and going to college tuition-free. For the other Wes Moore, his opportunities were cut short by a robbery going wrong, resulting in one dead and him in jail for the rest of his life. The book’s first three chapters set the tone of the book, revealing a common theme of rough beginnings.                Both boys in the book started t...

In the eyes of many students and parents, higher education is a sacred opportunity and is required after high school. It is viewed as a rite of passage from the stage of childhood or teenage years to the responsibilities and establishment of adulthood. That ideology is being challenged in the 21 st Century as college tuition continues to rise to unforeseen levels. While many avenues have been made to help students achieve their higher education dreams such as scholarships or grants, most students and parents must take out student loans in order to cover the high tuition balance. Current estimates for American student loan debt are around $1.7 trillion, increasing by 91% in the past decade (Johnson Hess, 2021). Many initiatives are aiming to college more affordable, such as free community college or full-need scholarships. However, these initiatives are not widespread, as the documentary The Ivory Tower , explained full-need scholarships are only available in 1.25% of schools, with Har...

Financial literacy is one of the few skills necessary for life success. Though money cannot buy happiness, it provides safety, freedom, and the means for necessities. Understanding how to manage money is the foundation of financial literacy, so people can achieve financial freedom within their means. Some tools of financial literacy necessary in life are saving, investing, smart spending, and budgeting. With these tools, it allows people to budget to stay within their means, stay prepared for life changes, have reserves for any possible emergencies, and save for retirement or future date. Other benefits of financial literacy tools are increasing earnings through investments, stocks, bonds, savings accounts, or interest-earning checking accounts. Though a need, many people are unskilled in money management. In fact, two-thirds of Americans are unable to pass a basic financial literacy test and only one-third of the world is financially literate (Kruse, 2019). This is a huge issue as man...

“Pop culture is a universal language that manages in all of its seemingly trivial glory to make us dream and smile, to connect us across racial political, and social divides (Talks, 2013) .” Documentary filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe gave this definition of pop culture in his TED talk. Through his speech, he debated on the fact on the position of pop culture in the midst of the evolving world through the rise of technology. Using the comparison of politics, religion, values, and beliefs to pop culture, his debate showed the public idea that pop culture is considered trivial compared to the other constructs that shape human function. However, pop culture has become part of our social functions of life, always changing based on trends and informing people of other’s varied ideologies under a universal form of communication. Regardless of its form through words, videos, pictures, or in-person socialization, pop culture undeniably influences the world and interacts with all people. Pop cu...

Literacy is a skill that connects people of different backgrounds, unifying them through a common language. Though some are unable to take advantage or work for the opportunity to be literate, my literacy story started in childhood. Gifted and passionate about education, learning became the thing I thrived at most. Firstly, my parents placed me in preschool for two years to get a head start on learning. It continued with repetitious writing of my name, other words, and associating objects to words with my parents. During elementary summers, my brother and I were given various math, reading, and writing worksheets to extend our skills. I had a book at home that taught simple sentence structure, learning how subjects and predicates come together with a verb. These skills learned at home during the summer and after school translated to growth in the classroom. During my elementary school years, I was a part of the Launch program, an honors-type program for gifted and talented students. ...