Inspired by Dr Ben Carson

Our teacher told us the story of Dr Ben Carson, a famous brain surgeon who lives in America. 

When he was a child, the same age as us, Ben lived with his mother and older brother.  They were very poor as his mother was illiterate.  Because she couldn't read or write very well, Ben's mother had to work as a cleaner for rich people.

At school Ben would always fail his tests.  He was the bottom of the class and the children called him dumb.  This made him feel like he didn't care about learning and sometimes he would get into fights with other children who hurt his feelings.  Ben became an angry boy.

Oneday Ben's mother saw his school report card and was disappointed that her boy was doing so badly at school.  She decided that her boy couldn't stay at the bottom of the class.  He was smart and she knew that he could be successful in anything he put his mind to.  In fact, Ben's mother believed that her sons could be more successful than the others. 

Ben's mother prayed and asked God to help her to find a way to help her sons at school.  He answered her prayer while she was working oneday.  Ben's mother noticed that the rich people she worked for had lots of books.  This made her realise that books were the key to success.  When she arrived home from work she told her boys that they were only allowed to watch two TV programmes a week and that they had to choose them in advance.  She aslo told them that they had to learn all of the times tables off by heart.  Finally they had to go to the Library and borrow two book every week, read them and then write a report for each book. 

Little by little the boys began filling their heads with ideas and information and when they did their tests at school their grades improved so much that Ben ended up being the top of the class instead of the bottom!

Here is Dr Carson's book which tells the story about his life:

Here are the main reasons why Ben's life changed:

1  Ben's mum stopped her boys watching TV.
2  Ben started reading books.
3  Ben learnt his times tables off by heart.
4  Ben's mum encouraged him to believe that he could be successful.