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Essay / Ben Carson's Legacy in Pediatric Neurosurgery
Pediatric neurosurgery has the ability to save the lives of disabled children with brain or spinal cord problems. Becoming a pediatric neurosurgeon requires years of education, hard work and determination. Having very little margin for failure, neurosurgeons must use imagination to accomplish their work. Ben Carson has taken the world of neurosurgery by storm. He has worked to overcome his disadvantaged childhood and now deserves the highest regards. Ben Carson once said, “Whatever direction we choose, if we can realize that each obstacle we overcome strengthens us and prepares us for the next one, we are already on the path to success.” Carson experienced this in his own life and did well for himself and his family. Starting out in poverty, Ben Carson worked hard to achieve success far beyond the expectations set for a young African American. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayBen Carson WAS born in Detroit, Michigan in 1951 to a poor family (Southerland 1). Carson's mother dropped out in the third grade and married at the age of thirteen (Source 5). At the young age of 8, Carson's father left Ben, his older brother, and his mother to pursue his other family (Southerland 2). For this reason, Ben, his brother and his mother moved in with his sister in Boston (Southerland 2). Carson's mother, Sonya, worked multiple jobs from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. (Southerland 2). They returned to Detroit (Southerland 3). They spent many hours in the hospital waiting room due to their medical assisting program, which inspired Ben Carson to consider himself a doctor (Southerland 3). In 5th grade, he WAS last in his class. Carson's mother, Sonya, saw her boy's poor grades and intervened (Source 5). From then on, Carson was only allowed two hours of television per week (Source 5). Additionally, he was not allowed to play outside until all his homework was completed (Source 5). Additionally, they were required to read two library books per week (Source 5). Carson was resentful at first, but he soon discovered his immense love of learning (Southerland 4). In a few weeks, he amazed his class by identifying the stones that the teacher had brought to class (Source 5). Despite the enormous distance he had traveled, Carson still had severe anger issues and even tried to hit his mother over a small disagreement. fashion; he discovered this WAS by putting himself at the center of everything (Southerland 4-5). Ben Carson graduated from his local high school with honors (Source 5). Carson, who majored in psychology, attended Yale University (Source 5). Carson graduated and went to medical school at the University of Michigan, shifting his interest to neurosurgery (Source 5). Carson said, “When I made my choice for neurosurgery, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world.” (Carson, 105) Carson's excellent hand-eye coordination and 3D reasoning skills set him apart from other novice students (Source 5). Post-med school, Carson worked at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland (Southerland 6). Carson, specializing in head injuries, spinal and brain tumors, craniosynostosis, achondroplasia, neurological and congenital disorders, epilepsy, and trigeminal neuralgia (Southerland 7-8). At the age of thirty-two, Carson WAS named director of pediatric neurosurgery (Southerland 8). This career development made him the youngest director.