Lessons From Ben Carson

Back in 2005 when I was in my final year in high school at Starehe Boys' Centre, I was having a group conversation with my classmates when my friend John Njiru mentioned Ben Carson. I can't recall what he said of Ben Carson but something about that name made it stick in my memory.

So much did the name make an impression on me that later on when a girl asked me which book I was carrying in my hand during a school function, I lied to her that it was a Ben Carson book. To which she replied, "No, Ben Carson's books aren't that size!"

The girl must have been right because I didn't know who Ben Carson was back in 2005. I had just heard his name from my friend John Njiru, you know!

It wasn't until 2007 that I got to learn more about Ben Carson after I purchased his inspiring best-seller, Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence. Now that I know something about Ben Carson, let me tell you his story and the lessons it holds for us.

Ben Carson is a retired paediatrician who became an overnight success in 1987 after leading a 70-member team in separating Siamese twins conjoined in the head. He is currently serving in the Donald Trump administration as the Secretary of Housing & Urban Development.

But Ben Carson rise to fame and fortune wasn't a walk in the park. His parents separated when he was eight. After the separation, he moved in with his mother who sometimes had to work on more than two jobs to sustain her family of two sons.

Perhaps due to the separation, Ben Carson started out poorly in school. He also had a terrible temper in his teenage years. The temper almost made him commit murder at one time when a friend of his angered him. He lunged a penknife at the friend but luckily, it hit him on the buckle of his belt, so no bodily harm was done.

Ben Carson life changed for the better during his fifth grade year when, under instructions from his mother, he reduced the time he spent watching television and started reading books borrowed from a local library. That effort paid off handsomely, for he rose to the top of his class in academic rankings.

His academic performance went on a tailspin when he got into high school after succumbing to peer pressure. He managed to recover from that backsliding in time to earn an acceptance letter from Yale, one of the best colleges in America.

While at Yale, he found himself struggling in academics as he strived to keep up with the college's demanding curriculum and its brilliant students, some of whom were in the genius category.

Thanks to God, he survived and then thrived at Yale. As a result, he was admitted to the University of Michigan Medical School where he earned the papers that set him on his way to becoming a renowned paediatrician.

I just like the way President George W. Bush summarized the life of Ben Carson when he was awarding him the Medal of Freedom in 2008. President Bush said:

The story of our first recipient begins in a poor neighbourhood in the heart of Detroit. This was an environment where many young people lost themselves to poverty and crime and violence. For a time, young Ben Carson was headed down that same path. Yet through his reliance on faith and family, he turned his life into a sharply different direction. Today, Dr. Carson is one of the world's leading neurosurgeons. He is renowned for his successful efforts to separate conjoined twins and his expertise in controlling brain seizures. He has worked to be a motivating influence on young people. He and his wife Candy have started an organization that offers college scholarships to students across America. The child of Detroit who once saw a grim future became a scholar, a healer, and a leader.

In his book Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence, Ben Carson advises young people to think big. And he has come up with the following acrostic of what it means to think big:

T - Talents/time: Recognize them as gifts
H - Hope for good things and be honest
I - Insight from people and good books
N - Be nice to all people
K - Knowledge: Recognize it as the key to living

B - Books: Read them actively
I - In-depth learning skills: Develop them
G - God: Never get too big for Him

There you have it: that is, the story of Ben Carson and the lessons it holds for us. I don't know about you but for me, it has inspired me to be honest and hope for good things. It has also inspired me to keep using my talents on a regular basis. That's all I am saying.