Andrew Collins

Innate Abilities In David Foster Wallaces speech In His Own Words, Wallace asserts that it is essential to, make a conscious decision about how to think and what to pay attention to, (4) in order to overcome our inert default setting (4). Based on Wallaces speech I can formulate that this intellectual process requires a great amount of disciplinary thinking and a commitment towards an elevated mindset; thus illustrating that a defining moment in a persons life is a forced experience that invokes a constructive disciplinary state upon ones mind continually over a long period of time so that self-discipline leads to personal success. In the book, The Other Wes Moore, by author Wes Moore, Moore states that after his mother sent him off to military school he realized that this new environment held, a real respect (96), that was further supported when he witnessed, a peer, demand that much respect from his people (9). The respect that Moore observed had a huge impact upon him in a way that began to force him to reshape the way he thought about the definition of respect and what it truly meant. Obviously, the military school was extremely disciplinary in a physical aspect; yet, it pales in comparison to the effect that the rigid lifestyle had upon Moores mental state. This situation, although forced upon him initially, ultimately brought out an inert leadership ability in Moore that was only previously touched upon by the death of father at a young age, when he was forced to become the man of the house. Thus his passive ability to lead was forced to emerge until it eventually became a permanent part of Moores attitude and overall mindset. In the story of Frank McCourts life, titled Angelas Ashes, McCourt is forced into a situation where he finds it necessary to leave his family after his mother seemingly neglects him for his uncle who is taking of advantage of her. Departing and embarking forward, McCourt is forced to depend solely on himself in order to survive on his own. This struggle in a new

Andrew Collins

environment of independence forced McCourt to evolve his thinking in a way that allowed him to succeed without others. Over the course of many years this revelation in his life proved to reshape McCourts mindset in a self-sufficient, positive manner, which ultimately transformed him into a young man bound for America. Personally, third grade year, my parents forced me to begin taking piano lessons from a strict elderly lady; where success meant countless hours of practice a week. Forced into this situation, I dreaded practicing, I dreaded lessons, I dreaded the piano in general; yet, I subconsciously absorbed the discipline and perfectionism my teacher, Mrs. Han, displayed to me each week. This sense of discipline engaged my mind in a way that allowed me to excel through school in a rapidly self-sufficient way. My mindset on life rapidly evolved to a perfectionist style that has remained with me all throughout life. I have spent over a decade in forced musical situations, yet my process of thinking has now evolved from a timid, passive process, into a selfdriven and motivating outlook on life that has allowed me to have enormous self-assurance in myself. As illustrated, a defining moment in an individuals life is not a simple process or undergoing. It is the result of an initial forced situation that leads to contamination, and only later, possibly as long as decades, allows redemption and an inner self-perseverance to attribute to a persons success, confidence, and highly evolved mindset. This forced situation allows an inert, or passive, quality in a person that they most likely excel at to evolve and be brought out through rigorous discipline, demanding that through self-discovery they realize this innate ability.

Andrew Collins

Bibliography

Angelas Ashes. Dir. Alan Parker. Paramount Pictures, 1999. DVD

Moore,Wes. The Other Wes Moore. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2010. Print

Wallace, David. 2005 Kenyon College Commencement Address. Kenyon College. Gambier, Ohio. 2005