The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind Essay “I try it, and I made it” (Kamkwamba, Mealer 266). This is how William Kamkwamba answered a question about making his windmill, on his first TED Talk, at the age of nineteen. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer is the incredible true story of William Kamkwamba and his brilliant invention. He created a windmill, and in doing so he changed the course of his life and the lives of his fellow people for the better. In order to create his windmill he needed to possess several habits. A few of these habits; working with what is on hand, never giving up, and taking criticism as a reason to try harder. All of these characteristics helped William in his journey to create his first windmill. One of …show more content…
One of these examples is, after he is kicked out of school he still continues to learn from books in the library. This shows that he will not give up on his education. Furthermore, when William is building his windmill people in the village think he is crazy, and they mock him constantly. But he does not let that stop him, he just uses it as fuel to keep going. On the other hand, sometimes William needed help to find the resolve to keep going. Near the end of the book William is trying to learn more of the English language, but the L’s and the R’s get him every time. He was discharged by the fact that some of the little children at his school could speak the language better than he could. His teacher eventually told him, “Don’t be discouraged and give up just because it’s hard. Whatever you want to do, if you do it with heart, it will happen” (272-273). After his teacher told him this William worked hard and did not give up, and is much better at speaking English. Throughout the book William never gave up, and part of that reason was that he never let criticism get to him. He just used it as motive to work