As my grandmother always told me, ‘Always aim to be the best, because then you will be the best’. This analogy was all I thought about while trying new things and keeping me motivated to keep doing it. Malcolm X’s motivation came from his desire to to learn. In “Homemade Education”, Malcolm X addresses his educational development through his “prison studies” (68). By simply getting a hold of a dictionary, he accomplished his goals of improving his penmanship, vocabulary and his education overall. He values education as he states before he not only “wasn't articulate” but also not “functional” (68). Malcolm X’s strategy to learn consisted of a dictionary; which he described it as a “miniature encyclopedia” (68). Malcolm X viewed education as a cure to humans, like “intellectual vitamins”(68). Education is a set of skills that one may learn through different resources, but the most important thing is having the motivation to learn and improve your own self. Malcolm X is the epitome of a motivational leader that used his limitations to his benefit of expanding his knowledge while in prison, with limited resources like a simple dictionary. Malcolm X had the motivation within himself and took those experiences and accomplishments to making a change and taking action upon things he cared about, which is something we must all think about in our life time, making a change. “I’ve never been one for inaction” (67) these are the first words Malcolm X uses to begin his Homemade Education Essay, he describes his desire and need of action towards aspects he feels strongly about. During his prison years, he was a follower of Mr. Elijah Muhammad, Islamic culture. He began writing letters to people he knew from the hustling world, but never got a reply. Malcolm X explains neither himself would have replied to anyone writing something as wild as “the white man is the devil” (67). He had become increasingly frustrated at not being able to express what he wanted convey in the letters he wrote, due to not receiving replies. Malcolm X states about himself, “I not only wasn’t articulate, I wasn’t even functional” (68) This was the start of his journey, the motivation he needed to learn, to expand his horizons through the use of education. Malcolm X feels proud to say that “many who today hear me somewhere ... think I went to school far beyond the eight grade” (68). This impression he has lead people to think is all due to his motivation for education through his “prison studies” (68). Even though he was not receiving replies to his letters, he used the situation as an opportunity of improvement to himself, something we should all consider when we do not receive expected results. During his prison years, he focused in expanding his knowledge through the use of resources available to him: the dictionary. He stated, “the best thing I could get a hole of a dictionary -- to study, to learn some words” (68) I have never been dedicated enough to read a dictionary for improve my literacy, but Malcolm X did and actually taught himself things that no one would even think it was possible. As he began copying every word per word, he would begin feeling a sense of fulfillment as he describes to being “immensely proud to realize that not only I had written so much at one time, but I’d written words that I never knew were in the world” (68). Through the use of a simple dictionary he was able to teach himself and expand his knowledge while being imprisoned, which many would have thought as impossible. Malcolm X’s situation epitomizes many immigrants’s reality. Immigrants arrive in an unknown place, with few resources to expand knowledge and an uncomfortable environment just how Malcolm X was found in prison. Many people let situations like this affect their lives negatively, however, I am an example of a success story just like Malcolm X. Moving to a new country, you must learn the language and adapt to the culture just as X did. He learned a whole different language, the written language, no slangs and also learned the culture of writing and reading. His resources consisted of a dictionary and I used different books and anything available to me. I had the same motivation to improve myself through my writing and reading skills to fit in to the American Culture. I too am motivated to expand my educational development and hopefully one day make a change as Malcolm X did after leaving prison using his knowledge as power. After his release, Malcolm X quickly rose through the ranks of the Nation of Islam and become one of its top administrators. Malcolm X had accomplished his goals with the use of his Homemade Education. He was determined in improving his knowledge and advancing his education and later is known as a leader. As my grandmother had always told me, “aim to be the best” and he did so. Malcolm X is an inspiration to many students. Students now have multiple amounts of different resources available which allows for so much more advancement and not just using a dictionary. Even though resources of education are available, the main important aspect is drive within the student. The motivation a student has to better themselves is critical to the development of self. Malcolm X was extremely determined to improving himself, but that is a want that comes from within. You must be your own motivation. Everyday we all go through so many obstacles that keep us from reaching our goals. In Malcolm X’s case being in prison limited the ways of improving in his education, however it motivated him to copying word per word of a dictionary to expand his knowledge. Being an immigrant I was limited in the support of my family members and friends however, being an immigrant also motivated me to becoming the best I could be. I wanted and continue to have the desire of focusing on my education to use that as a tool to leaving my mark in the world or making a change as Malcolm X did.