In the first few pages of Wild, the stray girl's present is described, but is quickly followed by flashbacks to her past. These flashbacks are a reminder of how the story got to the point where it opened, on the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT). This book is more than a memoir that just chronicles his excursion along the West Coast; it is the story of his life's journey. Explain how who she currently is is directly determined by who she was. Each step on the path is a further step in his growth. Her challenges in her youth created a background that gave her strength and independence on the PCT. Her mindset of defying the odds instilled in her throughout her upbringing gave her the will to successfully complete the excursion and, more importantly, find the true self she desired. The message in Wild is don't go hiking the PCT; it's checking in with yourself to see how your upbringing and background have influenced who you are. How a person reacts to their upbringing and their past background generally determine who they are and who they will become. The actions of others during a child's upbringing will not directly determine who a child will become. , but it will affect their attitude towards the situation, and how they react to the actions of others will determine who they become. When considering the extent to which a child's education affects his or her future self, it is important to understand that it is not that some children face different challenges, some children have an advantage over society, or some children have more difficulties than others, but that some children choose to be complacent and defeated by their upbringing; while others choose to strive to achieve more and overcome the difficulties of their education. A real ex... in the center of the card... in front of her. I feel like this is an important story to tell because they had backgrounds that brought them to the same point, but Nancy had learned to risk success, while Tonya had learned to risk failure. Tonya's upbringing was different and because she learned to react differently her background was different and when it came time to be scrutinized closely on a world stage she caved because she wasn't a strong enough person. Nancy was full of success because she had learned to react to the actions of others and had a background in taking risks to achieve true success. When it ultimately comes down to it, education and background are the two most important things in determining who a person will become, because if someone makes a mistake during their education, their background will be affected and who they will become will be determined forever. It really is the butterfly effect.