What motivates people to change?

This is what I wrote for an example expository essay.  My students are working on writing a Person-by-Person essay about people who were motivated to change.  This isn't a star paper.  I discovered my writing skills are a little rusty!

Teens Motivated to Change Themselves and the World

In the book Real Kids, Real Stories, and Real Change, there are many stories about individuals who faced difficulties in their lives and were motivated to change.  Three of these people were Mawi Asgedom, Malika Sanders, and Izidor Runkel.  Each experienced challenges early in his or her life.  Mawi’s family moved from Ethiopia in the middle of a war and had to learn to survive in America.  Growing up in Alabama, Malika saw how she was not treated equally because of her color.  Finally, Izidor was given a second chance at life when an American couple adopted him from a Romanian orphanage.  Each of these people could have blamed their circumstances for their poor quality of life.  However, Mawi, Malika, and Izidor were motivated to change by their circumstances, not only making life better for themselves but for others as well.  

After fleeing war in Ethiopia, Mawi Asgedom faced many difficulties in America.  Two of these challenges included fights with those who bullied him and failure at school.  Wanting him to be successful in America, Mawi’s father encouraged him not to fight and to do well in school.  However, Mawi wasn’t motivated to succeed until his brother was killed.  When this happened, Mawi realized how precious life was and decided to change.  In order to do better, Mawi began to work harder in school.  As a result, he did well in high school, got a scholarship to Harvard, and later spoke at graduation.  Afterwards, Mawi became a motivational speaker, using his own experiences to inspire others.  Learning the value of life from his brother’s death, Mawi was motivated to change and is now helping others succeed. 

The challenge Malika Sanders had to overcome in her life was racism.  She grew up in a town where the mayor was racist and where the school segregated students into advanced and remedial classes based on color.  When she was young, Malika wanted to stand up against inequality.  This desire gave her the motivation to change both her school and her town.  She organized efforts that not only changed how students were placed in classes at school, but also succeeded at sending the mayor out of power.  Now, because of Malika’s motivation to change, students are placed in classes according to ability, and democracy is stronger for everyone in her town of Selma, Alabama.

As an orphan, Izidor Runkel struggled to overcome the negative effects of living in a Romanian orphanage.  There he faced neglect, unsanitary conditions, abuse, and the deaths of his friends.  When he was adopted by an American couple, a lot changed for Izidor.  However, things didn’t get better right away for Izidor.  He had a hard time trusting his new parents and also had to go through six operations to fix his crippled leg. However, he finally accepted their love and persevered through the operations that allowed him to walk again.  Recognizing how his parents had given him a chance at a happy life, at fifteen, Izidor began efforts to help other orphans in Romania by speaking across America to make others aware of the orphan’s plight.  He eventually moved back to Romania to be able to help the orphans even better.  Izidor overcame the difficulties of his own life, not allowing the challenges of his past to keep him down, and then worked to ensure the happiness of all the orphans he left behind. 

Throughout the world, people grow up in difficult circumstances.  Mawi, Izidor, and Malika each faced problems from a young age and could have remained in their harsh environments, or, at the least, blamed their unhappiness on them.  However, all three were motivated to change.  Mawi was motivated by the death of his brother. Malika was motivated by the inequality in her school.  Izidor was motivated when he recognized the gift of life his adopted parents had given him.  All three were able to create a better life for themselves.  As they did so, they recognized that others still lived in those same harsh circumstances that they once lived in.  Recognizing that change can happen, they didn’t stop at change for themselves but continued doing what they could to make life better for others.