From Boy Next-Door to Terrorist

The article, From Boy Next-Door to Terrorist, is written by Andrea Elliott. The author’s
purpose is to talk about the childhood and adulthood life of Omar Hammami in order to show
how ironic it is when a well-educated young man turns into a horrifying terrorist in his
adulthood. Omar Hammami was a popular and intelligent boy in high school. According to the
article, Omar was elected as president for his sophomore class and when he was dating one of the
most popular girls in school. His class found him smart, funny, yet rebellious. (8) His dream was
to become a surgeon, assuming that he wants to save people’s lives, (8) yet he became a terrorist,
depriving people’s lives. In 2008, Hammami led a deadly ambush on Ethiopian troops. (11) In
addition, Hammami wished that “violence would vanish clear from the Earth” at age twelve. (10)
It is absolutely shocking that someone who loves peace so much and suddenly turned into a
brutal killer. This article implied that future of one’s life is unpredictable.