Are we products of our environment & my mentor

 As I reflect upon the thought, “are we products of our environment?”  I believe that we are products of our environment. I strongly believe that if our environment isn’t a strong environment then we won’t succeed. Some people do push through different obstacles that they face in their environment but a lot of people don’t and they suffer greatly for it. In "The other Wes Moore", Wes and Wes grew up blocks away from each other but were raised by two different families with two different principles. From what I see in the video, the author of this book was raised in a family where they didn’t harm each other or anybody else and he made sure to take that with him as he got older, he did mention getting in trouble at 11 and ending up in handcuffs but he says with intervention, he was able to change his direction. The other Wes More might have learned that when he was younger but he didn’t take that into consideration when him, his brother and two others shot and killed someone, he unfortunately wasn’t able to turn his life around before that. “If supports aren’t put in place, that compounds the problem. For someone that didn’t grow up in the environment that I grew up in where education is mandatory, a lot wouldn’t think it’s mandatory, they would just live life without higher education if they felt it wasn’t a necessity. On the other hand, a lot of people also overcome their environments but they have to really push themselves to overcome what is around them. But on the other hand, I believe it’s not always our environment but the situations that we are faced with in life play a major role in the outcome of our lives. Anyone can grow up anywhere but anyone is put in a certain type of situation, they will do things they wouldn't usually do and that may cost them down the line.

I feel like mentors are very important and everyone should have one eventually, at some point in their lifetime. I had one mentor in second grade and she was good to me, for that point in my life but when I got older, I saw her and she completely changed and was a bad influence on me, thankfully I removed myself from her. I had a mentor coming into college and she is my best friend still to this day, she helped me with so much and I can’t thank her enough for that. I believe having a mentor depends greatly on what type of person they are because the first mentor was not good to me but my mentor entering college was much more ginuwine and upfront. My mentor entering college has given me the tools I need to be successful in college because she is also doing great in college.