Essay on gifted hands

Introduction

In life, there are a lot of challenges that people come across so as to hit their targets. Ben Carson is no difference and his book – Gifted Hands – shows just that. The book looks at the tribulations and jubilations that Carson went through to be where he is today.
This book titled Gifted Hands is a story about Ben Carson. It tells us of what he went through during his life before becoming a neurosurgeon. The story begins by an introduction telling us that Ben Carson was a poor kid and grew up in the streets of Detroit. Ben’s mother Sonya seemed to be working hard and tirelessly to fend for her two children i. e. Ben and his sibling Curtis. They were very poor that Sonya had to work 24/7 to be able to support the family.

All the jobs that Sonya did were not well paying jobs thus she had to work extra hard. Carson did not do well in school and seemed to be struggling a lot with his studies. It was so extreme that some of the kids in his grade always made fun of him by calling him funny names like dumb kid. By the age of 11 his mother and some teachers could not allow this to go on so they motivated and helped him to develop an interest in school.

This was the turning point for Carson as he started performing well in class and the kids stopped calling him names. Some of the kids who used to laugh and mock him now came to him for assistance. There was a time when they both performed so poorly that their mother had to lie down some rules to be followed. Some of the laid down rules by their mother was that they only got to watch a certain of TV in a week and read a certain amount of books and writing a report of the books. Initially, it was a daunting task to both of them since they were so much used to watching the television but with time they overcame and managed it. This made them especially Carson to enjoy reading and writing. It catapulted their overall grades and they performed well.

It was during this time that Ben discovered his interest in science. He could collect stones and read books that are related to science. His good performance earned Ben a full scholarship to attend many colleges but he chose to go to Yale University. He started going to church while in college and adopted the Christian faith. He graduated from Yale high school and later went to a medical school since he knew that he wanted to become a doctor in future. Upon finishing medical school, he was admitted at John Hopkins, which is one of the most difficult institutions to get into, and was assigned to do his first surgery on a little girl called Miranda, which was the major breakthrough in his career life.

Conclusion

Before reaching a certain level, there is usually a starting point. Thus, Carson’s life began way back at Detroit where he stayed with his mother Sonya and his brother Curtis. They were so poor that their mother had to work 24/7 so as to satisfy the needs of the family. The boys, in this case Ben and Curtis, were poor at books and it took the intervention of their mother to make them see the importance of education. Today, Carson is ranked among the most highly regarded neurosurgeons worldwide.