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From Slow Learner To
Brilliant Brain Surgeon
THINK BIG - YOU’VE GOT TO UNLEASH YOUR POTENTIAL
Coming from a broken home in Detroit, Michigan, Ben Carson developed a terrible hot temper along with severe low self-esteem at a very young age. He was just another kid trying to survive. His possibility for a decent future didn’t look good. The deck was definitely stacked against him.
Remember though, that in America, it doesn’t matter what cards you are dealt, it only matters how you play the hand, and the Carson family managed to play their hand quite well. Today, Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr. is the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery of the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland as well as one of the world’s top brain surgeons.
Instrumental in building up that initially weak deck of cards was Ben’s mother, Sonya who was the rock of the family. She went through some tremendous challenges in her youth as well, in-and-out of foster homes, a third grade education, married at thirteen and heart problems. Worst of all, she found out that her husband, a minister, already had a wife on the other side of town with five children. With all of these challenges she was determined that somehow her two boys would one-day amount to something good.
“I did not like school very much and there was no reason why I should,” recalls Carson. “Inasmuch as I was the dumbest kid in the class, what did I have to look forward to? The others laughed at me and made jokes about me every...
Cedric is an unusual student to walk the halls of Ballou High. Unlike most of his peers, he actually wants to make something of himself; he does his homework, he studies and he works on extra credit projects. The majority of the kids at Ballou barely come to class, much less make any attempt at learning. Since this is the overall attitude of the school, Cedric must exercise social mobility and do whatever he can to better himself as an individual. He is not necessarily competing against the students at Ballou (because he by far surpasses them), but he is in competition with all the other students from better schools throughout the area. During the summer that Cedric spends at MIT, he is truly awakened to the fact that he was extremely far behind the other students from urban areas. The director of the program expresses his frustration with the MIT program- "When he first arrived... He had grand plans to find poor black and Hispanic kids from urban America-... He saw that he had been drea...
School was Dave's only refuge away from his mother, and it was the only place he could actually get food and feel safe. Sometimes he would wish to stay at school forever just so he wouldn’t have to stay home with his mother. He dreaded holidays so much. His school was also a place where he felt loved by the nurse and put an end to his abuse.
School is a frightening place. It is broken down into multiple social ranks, and many children find themselves at the bottom. With children trying to work their way to the top of the food chain, the actual learning portion is either set aside or forgotten altogether. In Grant Penrod’s essay, Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids, he explains how modern children are growing to dislike intellectual children. The varying social ranks teach children to ignore low grades and try to be popular in school. Anti-Intellectualism is a trend which is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. People who only strive to be popular tend to tease intellectuals, but this is not half of the story. If the only goal children have in school
1. Walter - His dreams of owning a licquor store conflict religiously with Mama's value system. The conflict between Mama and Walter is amplified by the fact that it is Mama's apartment in which the family lives and Walter is unable/unwilling to make decisions because Mama is so domineering. Ironically, it is the one decision that she eventually lets Walter make which nearly destroys the family.
In contrast to Joy, the other Wes’ mom Mary played a much weaker parent’s role. This is primarily due to the fact that Mary did not finish college and became pregnant at a very young age. She was her children's sole provider but was not ma...
Kathy Harrison starts her personal story happily married to her childhood sweet heart Bruce. Kathy was living a simple life in her rural Massachusetts community home as the loving mother of three smart, kind, well-adjusted boys Bruce Jr., Nathan, and Ben. With the natural transitions of family life and the changes that come with career and moving, she went back to work as a Head Start teacher. Her life up until the acceptance of that job had been sheltered an idyllic. Interacting in a world of potluck suppers, cocktail parties, and traditional families had nothing in common with the life she would choose after she became a Head Start teacher.
...e on her part. Throughout the story, the Mother is portrayed as the dominant figure, which resembled the amount of say that the father and children had on matters. Together, the Father, James, and David strived to maintain equality by helping with the chickens and taking care of Scott; however, despite the effort that they had put in, the Mother refused to be persuaded that Scott was of any value and therefore she felt that selling him would be most beneficial. The Mother’s persona is unsympathetic as she lacks respect and a heart towards her family members. Since the Mother never showed equality, her character had unraveled into the creation of a negative atmosphere in which her family is now cemented in. For the Father, David and James, it is only now the memories of Scott that will hold their bond together.
One of the important decisions Ben was faced with was in the tenth grade. He had to decide weather or not he wanted to continue on his downward spiral with school and friends or if he wanted to get his act together and become high in rank in his school’s ROTC program. After seeing his brother in his ROTC uniform Ben was certain he wanted to follow in Curtis’ footsteps. He knew he would have to work tremendously hard if he ever wanted to be named colonel as a student. Carson decided to put his best foot forward and forgot about being in the “it” crowd with the “right” clothes and focused on his ROTC goal. Ben was honored when Sgt. Bandy put him in charge of the most rambunctious class. His strategy for whipping the class into shape was getting to know them individually and then “structured the exercises accordingly (65).” Sgt Bandy was pleased to see that Ben turned the worst class into the best class of the unit in a matter of weeks. Ben was then promoted to second lieutenant. By the time he graduated Ben not only reached his goal and was ranked colonel, but he had been offered a full scholarship to West Point. A whole new decision in its own, Ben turned the scholarship down to pursue his dreams of being a doctor.
“School can be a tremendously disorienting place… You’ll also be thrown in with all kind of kids from all kind of backgrounds, and that can be unsettling… You’ll see a handful of students far excel you in courses that sound exotic and that are only in the curriculum of the elite: French, physics, trigonometry. And all this is happening while you’re trying to shape an identity; your body is changing, and your emotions are running wild.” (Rose 28)
Most importantly Sonya gave Ben motivation. As he was a young boy he went through a lot of difficulties, grades started to drop, and he wasn’t believing in himself. He had told her he wanted to become a Doctor. Due to the fact that his grades were dropping Sonya made limited Television time to 2 shows a week, both boys had to go to the library, read at least 2 books a week and write a report on them. Sonya encouraged Ben to always to better, never give up and he would succeed in what he wanted to do with life.
Benjamin Solomon "Ben" Carson, a retired neurosurgeon surgeon and conservative commentator, also is a candidate for the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election. Carson was a second child of his mother Sonya, Carson and his brother was raised in poverty. Ben Carson overcame his troubled youth in inner-city Detroit to become a neurosurgeon well-known for successfully separating conjoined twins. In 2015, Carson became one of many candidates pursuing to conquest the official Republican presidential nomination. As a potential presidential candidate, Carson platform is designed to achieve the indistinct voters, and the advertisements with a distinct purpose to persuade these voters. Carson’s believes that his plan
Ruth, whose dreams are the same as Mama’s, get deferred when the family are forced into there small apartment and there lack of money. Since she has no money she can not help her family as much as she would like to.
Ben Carson had many problems that most juveniles face in growing up. One of the challenges he battled was his anger. There are numerous instances of life where he loses control over his anger, and almost makes a fatal move. He attempted to stab his friend for changing the radio station he was listening to, and nearly struck his mother with a hammer for buying him ugly school pants that were not in fashion. The second problem that Carson faced while growing up was fitting in. When he was in the fifth grade, he was labeled the dumbest kid in the class and was quite embarrassed of it. Carson starting reading books and improved his intelligence, which lead to his next problem of being modest. Carson had to let all the other students know how smart he was, and what he was capable
As a child, his uncontrolled temper and rage is what got Ben in trouble. Living in p...
Bergman, Jerry. Benjamin Carson: The Pediatric Neurosurgeon with Gifted Hands. Acts & Facts. 38.1(2009): 10.Print.