Better. A couple of things, though:
My personal influence is a man characterized by his distaste for civilization and his compulsion for equality.
But greater equality is an advance made by civilization. You might want to discuss briefly the sort of myths Twain believed in that would allow him to ignore this.
His writings made me believe that people are indeed putting too much effort into trying to conform to the means of society and materialism, and how by doing that people change who they 'really are.'
This, like most of the other parts of your essay I'm about to quote, is a good starting point. But, you need to go on to explain what you have seen in your own life that would confirm this belief. That is, you should illustrate the general with the specific.
Because of this, I will not allow myself to be possessed by the shallowness of materialism and disillusionment of society as I grow older. Instead, I will take life as it comes, not taking anything for granted.
How exactly will you do this? Will you give up all the comforts of modern civilization to go and live among the residents of a poor African village where there is no running water? And what would you do when you get there? Rejoice in the spiritual joy of living in material poverty? Or attempt to help the villagers find ways of meeting their material needs? Etc. Again, you need specifics.
In his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain stresses the idea that through equality
Italicize novel titles.
I used to see the world through prejudicial eyes, but now I realized how much more peaceful things are when you leave your chauvinism behind.
What sorts of prejudice did you suffer from? How did you overcome them? How does this tie in to Twain?
Stereotypes and prejudice are still common and alter a person's opinions whether we like to admit it or not.
And you offer as proof of this your experience of . . .