The change in Precious

At what points do we see change in Precious? At what point do we see Precious owning her identity and her destiny rather than accepting what others have forced on her? What influences her change?

 In class we started to discuss who changes Precious and what specific events lead to change within Precious. It is clear that without the help of certain people, the life that Precious lives may have never changed. Was it luck that Precious met these encouraging and supportive people who changed her life? Or was it really just Precious who got her to where she needed to be to change her own life? I think that Precious finally started to make the decisions to begin to better her own life and these important people helped make that transition a little more smooth.
  From the beginning Mrs. Lichenstein, her principal from her public middle school, was the first influential person in Precious' life. By getting Precious suspended for being pregnant, she then found an alternative school that she felt would be a much better fit for Precious. She even took the time to go to Precious' apartment to tell her about this alternative school close by to her home. In this particular situation, I think that it was Precious, herself, who made the decision to go to this alternative school and see what it is like, and that Mrs. Lichenstein was just there to help her find her path but never forced her to do anything. It was all Precious, which goes back to the incredible strength and courage she had to start to take control of her own life. Ms. Rain, her teacher, was then the first teacher who ever showed her encouragement, expectations, care, and concern for the growth of Precious. Precious always seems to find something wrong in everybody, but the relationship with Ms. Rain is different. For the first time, I feel that Precious is excited to go to school and learn from Ms. Rain, and Ms. Rain is excited to teach Precious and watch her grow intellectually. Ms. Rain raises the bar for Precious and pushes her to do her best, but in the end it is once again, Precious who pushes herself towards a higher education despite the negativity she receives at home. Lastly, I think that the birth of her second child and her motherly instincts are what really change her the most and help bring her out of this identity of her own mother and upbringing. Precious sees her own identity and upbringing and knows that she does not want that for her kids, and that she wants her children to be able to know their abc's. Precious makes the decision to leave her mother and tell the social worker about her mother and father.
The decision of going to school and working her hardest, lead Precious to finding support groups and making friends for once, and learning how to read and write. These important things happen in her life because of Precious and these people make her journey that much easier. Precious makes her own identity and destiny because of changes and decisions that SHE made!