Are There Two of You Out There?

In his book, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, our morning keynote speaker explores the difference choice (and the absence of it) can make in the formation of who we are. The “other Wes Moore” in his life was just two years older than Moore, lived in the same neighborhood, and was arrested for the murder of an off-duty Baltimore police officer during an armed robbery.

Moore wondered how two young men from the same city, who were around the same age, and even shared a name, could arrive at two completely different destinies. The juxtaposition between their lives, and the questions it raised about accountability, chance, fate and family, had a pro¬ound impact on Moore. He decided to write to the other Wes Moore, and much to his surprise, a month later he received a letter back. He visited the other Moore in prison over a dozen times, spoke with his family and friends, and discovered startling parallels between their lives: both had difficult childhoods, they were both fatherless, were having trouble in the classroom; they’d hung out on similar corners with similar crews, and had run into trouble with the police. Yet at each stage of their lives, at similar moments of decision, they would head down different paths towards astonishingly divergent destinies.

When you think about your life and the choices you have made, do you see points in it where you made one choice – and if you had made the opposite, you might be a totally different person?

Have you have met someone in your life who reminded you what you “could have been” – for better or for worse?

One of the reason why this year’s conference has the theme of the Power of Choice is because we need to remember that the choices we make every day profoundly affect who we are – now and in the future. Plus, as Wes Moore found out, those of us blessed with many choices can have a responsibility to give choices to others who may have fewer options.