The Story of Ben Carson

Benjamin Solomon Carson, (September 18th, 1951. Detroit, Michigan, USA) is an American neurosurgeon doctor, psychologist, writer and philanthropist. He is famous by being the first surgeon to separate Siamese twins. He’s known as one of the bests neurosurgeons in the world, but he didn’t get there easily, he had to work very hard.

His mother, Sonya Carson, married with Ben’s father, Robert Solomon Carson, when she was only thirteen. When Ben was eight years old, they divorced. Ben and his older brother, Curtis, were raised only for their mother. They were very poor, so she had to work in two or three jobs, usually as a domestic servant.

Carton had many difficulties at the beginning of elementary school, becoming the worse student in his class and target of bullying by his colleagues. Then he started to have an aggressive behavior, he even threatened his mother with a hammer once. But determined to change, the life of her sons, Mrs. Carson limited the time their son spend watching TV and refused to let them go out to play until they finished their homework every day. She also demanded them to read two books per week and provide a written report about them.Unfortunately, due to her own lock of education, Mrs. Carson could barely read the reports her sons wrote.. Ben soon surprised his classmates and teachers with new knowledge. He says that was on that moment he realized he wasn’t stupid. One year later Ben Carson was the best student in his class.

After determinate he wanted to be a psychiatrist, Carson graduated with honors from high school with participation of Yale University, where he got a degree in psychologist. Then he studied at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Michigan, where his interest shifted to neurosurgery. His hand-eye coordination and excellent reasoning ability made him a great surgeon. After medical school he became the first African-American resident of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. At 32 he became chief of neurosurgery residents in the hospital.

His story is told in the book Gifted Hands. And it proves that you can be whatever you want, as long as you work for it.