Three Cups of Tea When I first chose Three Cups of Tea as the book I wanted to read, my preconceived notions were that it was going to be an inspiring story. I was completely oblivious to the degree of the lack of education present in third world countries, especially in areas of terrorists. My other preconceived notion was that the girls were treated differently, but it wasn’t too bad. And, that was it. After reading the book and my current event articles, I realized I was terribly wrong. One of my current event articles speaks of how some girls in these areas are forced to dress up as boys in their childhood. It had never even occurred to me in my picture-perfect world that something like that could even exist. I was so wrong with my preconceived notions and I’m so glad that Three Cups of Tea helped me learn more about it. I already knew that there were problems with education in countries filled with terrorists. But, the main thing that Three Cups of Tea helped me to learn was the level and the degree to which those problems are present. It also helped me realize that one human being can make a huge difference. I learned of the tribe Korphe, and how they were what originally set Mortenson on this path of school reconstruction. And, through the articles, I learned of the connection between education and the termination of the Taliban. It is thought that by spreading education, new members to the Taliban may be prevented. I read about this in one of my articles that addressed the fact that, in a certain area, there were U.S. troops attempting to restart a school, but fear of the Taliban was delaying the task. I learned so many things through this book. The book Three Cups of Tea did not change my mind about the issue. The only reason it didn’t is because I already agreed with the side of the issue the book was taking. I already knew that education was important. And, I already knew that it was necessary in poor areas. And, when the book allowed me to put those two thoughts together, the intensity of my emotions about the topic only increased. And the prime reason for this was, once again, the link between the end of the Taliban and the reform of the educational system in Pakistan and Afghanistan. This link proved useful to me because it made me feel so much stronger about the topic. This project has already shaped the way I think about this subject. It has shaped it so strongly that it has actually motivated me. One of the motivational reasons was that I saw how one man who started