Wes Moore is the author of best-selling book, “The Other Wes Moore” which compares his life with that of another Wes Moore who grew up in the same neighborhood but became a convicted felon.
At an ideastream event Tuesday related to the public broadcasting effort to lower school drop-out rates called American Graduate, Moore praised Cleveland for its 12% increase in graduation rates the last three years.
Moore and his family had a difficult time after his father died young. After years of being “angry” at school, he turned his own life around with help from a mentor in military school. He credits his turnaround to the efforts of his mother, mentors, and other people who didn't give up on him.
Moore says kids need to set specific goals to stay on a path toward graduation and simply attending college is not enough.
“It can’t simply be about ‘what do you want my career to be?’ because there’s a very good chance your career is going to change over the process of your career. You’ll start in something and by the time you’re 35 you might be in your 4th career.
"The goal isn’t saying what career I want. The goal is saying what is the skill set I’m looking for and what is the happiness quotient that I’m looking for.”
Moore says he learned in the army that a person needs to see a target if they want to hit it. He hopes students can use their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to be excited about school and the career possibilities it can unlock.
He attended Johns Hopkins and then Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Later became a captain in the army and a White House Fellow working with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. His new book is The Work: My Search for a Life That Matters.”