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

Many people believe that we are simply all products of our environments. Punched from paper and molded into what society expects us to become. But our environment only teaches us survival skills demonstrated through every individuals’ story of how they respond to situations. The expectations society lays on our chests may influence our choices but we are ultimately in charge of our own choices. Some may study humans for our lives and only gather that we are simply human; we cannot be measured. That answers we are not products of our environment but instead our decisions produce the path we choose. 

“I mean others’ expectations that you take on as your own. We will do what others expect of us. If they expect us to graduate, we will graduate. If they expect us to get a job, we will get a job. If they expect us to go to jail, then that’s where we will end up. At some point you lose control.” (Moore, 126) While and after reading, I realized how difficult it was to separate the two. The expectations that others place on us, help us form our expectations of ourselves. 

The nonfiction book “The Other Wes Moore” made me realize that our environments may demand we act a certain way or be with certain people. But in reality, our environments can only teach us how to survive. How to survive a threatening situation or a loving relationship. How to act and react. Our environments may prepare us for these situations but it is our choice on whether or not to act on what we have been taught or to act on our own mind. The main character, Wes Moore number #1 becomes exactly what society expected him to become: a criminal. Wes #1 was put in a dangerous situation that tested his patience. Wes #1 came from the projects and was taught to not take disrespect and if anyone threatened his respect to send them a “message”. Wes was expected to act violently because his environment demanded he act that way. Wes #1 may have heard about the right way to handle the situation but his environment never allowed exposure of what the right thing is and is a prime example of how we let our environments play us and then mock the outcome. 

Now, to Wes Moore number #2, the author. He shared similar expectations and environments as Wes Moore #1. But the difference is their choices being made to differ the predicted outcome. Wes #2 was developing the same survival tactics as Wes #1 and his mother noticed this. She scraped together every single dollar she could find and sent Wes #2 to military school. This was the turning point in Wes’ life as he was being exposed to the possibility of what his life could be if he had discipline and humility to do the right thing and make the right choices. Wes #2 was not a product of his environment. The choices he made and others made for him were developing his character and altered his path for the better.

We are not products of our environment, we are merely a variable within a gigantic community. But one variable can change the entire outcome. Never let society box you in; it has no right. It is our job as individuals to understand that what separates us from each other is our imagination. We must use our individual minds to change our environments and change the outcome of the products we make. 

This is my take. Are we products of our expectations? Yes, because it’s up to us to decide what do we want to do for our lives moving forward and what choices we make and hopes are for the better. To mention, everyone paved their own path in life no matter what anyone says or thinks. No one is the same, everyone is different and that’s what makes us all unique. Whether good or bad, we become subject to expectations placed on us. Not only we are product but also the results of what we do in the wake of the expectations. Someone, at some point, put those expectations in our minds and we either live up to them, or live down to them.