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Benjamin Carson M.D.

by Alina from Fredericksburg

"There is no such thing as an average human being. If you have a normal brain, you are superior." -Ben Carson
Dr.Benjamin Carson (John Hopkins Hospital  ())
Dr.Benjamin Carson (John Hopkins Hospital ())

To me everyone is a hero in their own way, whether they are the common housewife or a successful businessman. They all have characteristics that make them heroes to someone and I find that amazing also that in a society where so many things go wrong that we still have so many heroes who can teach us how to do the right thing. I myself have many heroes in my life, but I cannot strive to be like all of them no matter how hard I try. So today I have chosen one that I think is worthy of praise and someone who I truly want to be like. His name is Dr. Benjamin Carson and he is my hero.

I remember the first time that I ever heard the name Ben Carson. I had always known that I wanted to be a doctor no matter what, but I could not figure out what type of doctor I wanted to be. I had considered many different possibilities, but never really was fully set on becoming any of them. Then right before I was just going to give up and decide to wait until I was older my mom called me into the living room to watch a movie with her. Little did I know that it was the movie Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson story. Once I had watched the movie I knew what I was going to do with my life. After the movie I went and researched neurosurgery and everything that goes with it to make sure that it was the right choice and after all the researching I realized that this was what I was going to become. The story of Ben Carson changed my life and has helped determine where my life is going to go.

Dr. Benjamin Carson as a child (Encyclopedia  (Unknown))
Dr. Benjamin Carson as a child (Encyclopedia (Unknown))

Before I go any further I should tell you about Dr. Carson and why he is my hero. Dr. Benjamin Carson Sr. is a pediatric Neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. But what made him my hero is not where he ended up in his life, but the journey that he had to take to get there. Ben Carson was born in Detroit, but later moved to Boston once his parents were divorced. His mother raised him and his older brother alone, even though she only had a third grade education and had been married to their father since she was 13. When he was in fifth grade his grades deteriorated and he had the lowest grades of the class. His classmates would tease and criticize him about his grades, and eventually even he started to consider himself dumb. With all of this teasing and criticizing Dr. Carson started to develop anger issues that he has to control even to this day. Luckily Dr. Carson's mother realized what was happening and put in place strict rules to ensure that her sons had a bright future.

Dr. Carson and his mother were both incredibly strong people. They had to endure things that no one should ever have to in a life time and even though they did go through tough times they came out stronger. Ben Carson's mother would not let him be the victim and because of that he was able to escape the horrible living situation that he was in. Without his mother doing that I would not be writing this paper right now. In fact Ben Carson might not have even become a doctor.

Dr. Carson playing with a child (John Hopkins Hospital  (Unknown))
Dr. Carson playing with a child (John Hopkins Hospital (Unknown))

After a little while he eventually started to improve in his classes and even at one point he was able to answer questions that a teacher had asked. He later said that when he answered a question in class that that is when he realized that he wasn't as stupid as people told him he was. This little boy who everyone considered stupid was able to graduate from high school and get into Yale University and obtain a degree in psychology. Later he attended the University Of Michigan School Of Medicine and earned his doctorate in neurosurgery. Then he went onto Johns Hopkins, where he is now the director of Pediatric Neurosurgery. In 1987 he proved himself even more when he was the first surgeon to separate two conjoined twins that were connected at the head and have both of the babies survive.

Even though Dr. Carson overcame adversity and dealt with things that no human being should ever have to deal with he never gave up. Even though giving up was an option, and in fact it was the easiest option. He just worked harder and never gave up. No matter how bad the situation got he just kept working and when he did hit something that was almost too difficult to deal with he figured out a way to work around the situation. This is why he is my hero.

To me Dr. Carson is an amazing hero, I can only hope that I am like him in some way. I hope that even when I am faced with horrible situations and when I have to go through at least part of what Dr. Carson went through in his life I will be able to get through it and come out as strong and successful as he is today. Because of him I knew what I wanted to be in the fourth grade and I only hope that in my lifetime I will be able to help at least half the number of people that he has helped.

Page created on 12/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 12/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

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