The Impact of Mentors

  Wes Moore had a caring yet somewhat tough mother growing up. She is likely his first mentor as he had no father figure losing his father early in his life. She had ingrained in him lessons of the importance of doing well in school, as well as finding a good career for yourself and not getting into trouble. She also taught him about respecting women and people in general. When she sees that Wes was starting to get into some serious trouble at a rather early age she had realized that she may not be able to do enough to set him on a good path in life, and therefore made a decision to send him to military school. In going to military school and having those father like figures who are there to still teach and toughen him up, Wes, learns to respect his lieutenants and those in higher command further up the chain of command and is shaped into a much more respectable person where he then learns to focus on his career and his future while still caring for his community back home. It is a standard practice. It seems in military school to be able to teach in a very tough and somewhat hostile manner unto students as a means of forcing them to bring out their courage and forcing them to be molded into a better and more respectable person. I believe this is what Joy had in mind as a goal in sending her son to military school as she wanted him to be a better person and not continue going down the dangerous path. He was already headed, especially in a very tough neighborhood and without a father figure for most of his life. 

  I too have had tough mentors in my life who have definitely shaped who I am. In high school, my music teacher was very tough on me specifically and others had noticed that. At the time I was very afraid and yet I also knew that my teacher was doing it so that way he could bring out the potential in me as a performer and prepare me for what the real world might be like And how to learn to deal with it. Having had that sort of mentorship were in I was forced to bring out the performer inside of me it had definitely shaped me to become a more confident performer for I had to find the courage to deal with a tough mentor whilst also understanding why they are doing it and why they’re being tough. As time goes by I definitely appreciate more what he has done as I can see how far I have come already. In both instances of me and in the book, a tough mentor bringing out the better and stronger person within the student is a common theme. While of course, my situation was a very different scenario and environment, having that same tough mentorship, where in being forced to showcase who you can be and learning to deal with hostility and learning how to be strong, I definitely was better prepared for college and the performing industry in general then I would have been if I had to figure a lot of it out on my own. Tough mentors can very much speed up the growing process, making us progress much faster while also learning a lot more about ourselves. In having that tough love sort of teaching. I definitely have been able to progress a lot more and also be able to endure a lot more in various environments, but especially in one in which I am in a show and have a tough director.

 The skill set of learning how to deal and with stand that behavior while also learning how to quickly follow instruction and move quickly when told to do so, similar perhaps in that way to military school is a very useful skill for me and likely for many other people as well hence why it is a common teaching method, especially when a mentor very much wants to bring out the talent and potential with a student. 

Wes Moore talks about military school: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Zp73bG3ww/?mibextid=wwXIfr

A quote from this video that showcases his mother’s care for him and their family is from his younger sister: “Our mother wore sweaters so we can wear coats”. 

Wes Moore would graduate top of his class out of over 700 students.