Other Wes more week 4/11

Growing up I poured all my focus into school not really stopping and really connecting with people. That was my mindset till around the 5th grade. In the fifth grade, I made a large group of friends that were there for me in school but also cared about my life at home. Up until that point I had friends that were genuinely nice and great people but I also had friends who started rumors about me and bullied me. I didn't trust anyone but my family and school were just for education; I didn't need friends I remember thinking. Bad friends can drag you down and good friends can help your mental health. 

Those friends helped me to break out of my shell a bit but I was still in my bubble. I continued to focus so much on school work that I made unnecessary sacrifices. School was my life and I let it consume me to not have to face the problems of reality. It definitely helped me to put an emphasis on school but it also hindered me socially. I got great grades but aside from speaking in front of crowds, small group interaction scared me. My arm would tremble and I would feel sick to my stomach in Social situations. I didn't relate to many of my peers who went out and saw each other outside of school. I was always busy with school activities and schoolwork to socialize with my friends outside of school.

I started hanging out with friends outside of school in high school but I was lucky to find an amazing friend who shared my ideals of education. 

In the other Wes Moore Tony talked about school seriously and staying off the streets.  Wes sees all the immediate luxuries that being a drug dealer can do for you and all he doesn't have that his brother has. Tony doesn't want his brother to make the same mistakes that he made and so he goes through the effort to stop his brother. Despite what Tony says eventually he says that he can't control Wes and he's going to take whatever path he chooses. It is heartbreaking as an older sibling to read what happened but you can't dictate other people's lives. 

For me, I would tell my brother to keep doing what he is doing. He is such a good kid with a kind heart and he makes friends wherever he goes. He still gets very good grades and he deals with stress greatly. I would just tell him that he should know that I and our older sister will always be here and if he doesn't understand something he can come to us. At the end of the day just like Wes my brother is going to make his own decisions and I hope to be a helping hand but I know I can only do so much. In life, we have no control over others and at times it feels like we have no control over ourselves.