Theme: Life choices
1. "Wes's attendance became sporadic, and once his first child was born, he just stopped going."
Wes 2's decision to drop out of school was a huge life choice that he made. His decision to drop out of school will most likely have a negative affect on his life. With a criminal record and lack of a high school diploma, it is hard for Wes to find a job, which steers him deeper into the drug business, as it is his only way to make money. By choosing not to finish attending school, Wes will have very few job opportunities and will turn to criminal activity in order to earn money, which will most likely only get him into trouble and ruin his life.
2. "All that mattered was that he was here. He had accomplished his mission of completing high school."
Unlike Wes 2, his good friend Woody, had decided to push through high school and graduate.This decision to earn his high school diploma, may turn out to prove very useful for Woody in the future. Unlike Wes, Woody will have a lot more job opportunities having earned his high school diploma and might even go to college to pursue a high-paying job. Above all, Woody's decision to complete high school will most likely help him steer away from entering the drug business and getting himself into trouble. In the short term, Wes is earning more money than Woody by selling drugs, however Woody's decision to finish school will most likely lead him win in the long run by living a life without being involved in the violence of the drug game or being locked up in prison.
3. "They made it clear that they cared if I succeeded, and eventually so did I."
At Valley Forge, Wes 1 begins to care more about his education and takes it more seriously. Because he is surrounded by people who support him and want him to succeed, he himself is motivated to succeed in school. In the past, most of Wes's teachers discouraged him and did not seem to be very supportive in his success. In fact, earlier in the book one of the teachers told him not to come to school because he was a disruption to the classroom. Wes had never been exposed to a learning environment where the teachers were so supportive of him and truly wanted to see him do well in school. Because Wes 1 is at a school like Valley Forge, where the staff is encourages him to succeed, he begins to take his education more seriously and works hard to reach his full potential.
4. "I thought about my mother and how she would feel if this escalated any further... I told Dalio we had to get back to campus by a different route..."
Although Wes 1 is angry after being embarrassed by the group of boys who called him a n****r and threw a glass bottle at him, he overcomes this anger and makes a wise decision. Instead of trying to fight back against his attackers, he wisely chooses to go back to school. This must have taken a lot of strength for Wes to suck up his pride and not retaliate. Evidently this was an obstacle that Wes successfully overcame because he managed to stay level-headed and make the wise decision not to let a bad situation get worse.
5. "Wes cursed himself. He knew he had been turning a blind eye to telltale signs that things were moving in this direction."
For Wes Moore 2, seeing addicts is just an everyday thing. Wes Moore 2 is disgusted at them, but he is far away from them. But he's shellshocked when he sees Cheryl shoot heroin. Wouldn't you be? He's seen enough of the other addicts. He has a family of four children at a young age. So far, Wes' life choices have been terrible. From when he started in the drug trade, to when he decided to try and murder his girlfriends side boyfriend. Nothing is going right for him, and now its ten times harder to reverse the damage he's done to himself.
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