Are We Products of Our Environment or Products of Our Expectations?

 Are We Products of Our Environment or Products of Our Expectations?

    It has been heavily debated whether people are influenced by nature versus nurture, meaning, how much of a person's character is formed by "nature", innate biological factors (commonly genetics), or "nurture", generally referring to one's upbringing or life experiences. After viewing Wes Moore speak at the Aspen Idea's Festival Afternoon of Conversation in 2011, a similar question is asked, are we products of our environment or products of our expectations?

    Wes Moore delivered a very eloquent speech where he addressed a variety of topics. He begins his speech discussing his childhood and upbringing, how his mother raised him and how he idolized  his father and the impact his father's death had on him since he passed away when Wes was just three years old. Wes Moore explains how there was a time in his childhood where he got caught hitting his sister when they were playing around and that his mother had a very strict policy that men don't put their hands on women, and she carried that over into her upbringing of Wes, based on her own life experiences. His father talks to him and explains that he needs to apologize to his mother and sister. As Wes is walking with his father to do that, he notices the way his father is carrying himself, head held high, chest proud, and young Wes tries to imitate the same actions. After his father died, Wes found himself feeling very angry, getting in academic and disciplinary trouble in school, to eventually getting placed in handcuffs at the age of eleven.  With the help of people who guided him and refused to give up on him, Wes found himself on the other side of those troubles. 

    Meanwhile, the other Wes Moore was one of four men who is tried and found guilty of an armed jewelry store robbery, leaving behind a fatal casuality of an off duty police officer who worked as security for the store. Both Wes Moores have a lot in common than just their names. They resided in the same neighborhoods, grew up in single parent households, had academic and disciplinary probation growing up, and also were the same age. Even though they were two kids growing up with very similar circumstances, they were headed in very different directions., one leaving home with a scholarship, and one going to a maximum security prison for the rest of his life.

    After writing a letter, both Wes Moores are in correspondence with each other. Wes explains that the response to the letter he sent Wes Moore in prison was one of the most articulate and interesting letters he has ever received. The motivation behind this project stemmed from trying to help people understand the consequences of their actions and doing something to help people understand the neighborhoods that these decisions are being made in. This was not done to revise history, but to question it moving forward. 

    Wes Moore explains how education matters. Not just the education of both boys, but going back even farther. The other Wes Moore's mother was the first in her family to attend college, that is until her grants got cut. When she couldn't afford to go to school, she could no longer attend. Wes thinks to himself how different her life would have been had she been able to continue with her education and graduate. Networks, friendships, and connections change with higher education. 

Environment matters just as much as education does. Children will thrive growing up in a strong and supportive home, and the best way to help at home is to be a part of a strong and supportive community, and  by having good educational facilities in that community. 

    Expectations matter. Whether it be personal expectations we hold ourselves to, or the expectations others put on us. We are products of both our environments and our expectations because they go hand in hand. Expectations can be born by what others see when they look at you for your future. What we think can be what we become. Both Wes Moores lived up to their expectations, whether it was their own personal expectations of themselves or what others have expected of them. 

    So, are we products of our environment or products of our expectations? I would have to answer this question by saying both. The expectations we get from others and put on ourselves are going to vary depending on the environment. Wes Moore was in an environment where people were supporting him to do better and become better when they saw him going down a dark path. They intervened and had high expectations of him to be better than he was. Wes Moore was not in a supportive environment like that. The expectations he had on him were different, he wasn't encouraged to be better than that because based on his environment he was only ever going to amount to what he already was. 

References

Moore, Wes. “Afternoon in Conversation .” Aspen Idea's Festival. Aspen Idea's Festival 2011,
Aspen , Colorado.