reading<\/em>. What follows is not an endorsement of his candidacy, but it is a chance to talk about something transformative that can affect anyone who follows Carson\u2019s example. How did he do it?<\/p>\n\u201cI was a terrible student,\u201d he admitted, who \u201cdidn\u2019t really take school that seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he and his brother were home watching TV, his mom was out working several jobs. \u201cOne of the things she noticed in the places where she worked as a domestic,\u201d he said, \u201cis that wealthy people read a lot of books and didn\u2019t spend a lot of time watching television.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, you guessed it. Mom decided to pull the plug on the television and send Ben and his brother to the library. Their job was to read two books a week and submit written book reports.<\/p>\n
It was a gamble for their mother because\u2014get this\u2014she didn\u2019t know how to read. Her sons didn\u2019t know she was illiterate, but she would mark up their papers as if she could read them.<\/p>\n
And the bluff actually worked. After a while, he started enjoying the experience of reading, and it made all the difference in his life. \u201c[W]ithin the space of a year and a half,\u201d he said, \u201cI went from the bottom of the class to the top of the class.\u201d<\/p>\n
Based on his comments<\/a>, it\u2019s clear reading helped Dr. Carson in at least these three ways:<\/p>\n\n- It created new possibilities.<\/strong> \u201cWe were desperately poor,\u201d he said, \u201cbut between the covers of those books I could go anywhere. I could be anybody. I could do anything. I began to know stuff that nobody else knew.\u201d\n
Life wasn\u2019t narrow and confined for him any longer. Reading broadened his scope and allowed him to find new and beneficial opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- It gave him a sense of agency.<\/strong> \u201cBecause of the reading I began to see that the person who has the most to do with what happens to you is you<\/em>,\u201d he told me.\n
The experience of others in books\u2014whether we\u2019re talking about biographies or novels or historical accounts\u2014show us that people\u2019s choices have an effect. Decisions make a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can do anything you want to do,\u201d he told me. \u201cDon\u2019t just sit there and bemoan the fact that things aren\u2019t going well. . . . Just use that circumstance to get where you want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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It changed his self-image.<\/strong> This one is the most fundamental. He literally went from feeling stupid to feeling smart. It was a massive boost to his self-worth, and it shifted everything in his life. He was still in high school, but he started spending time at the university library and labs, at the local art museum, and local businesses learning what they all had to offer.<\/p>\nOne thing stood out for me right here in the interview. He mentioned getting involved in a forensics contest\u2014as in forensic debate<\/em>. Is it any wonder he\u2019s doing well getting his opinions heard? And reading started it all.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nI\u2019ve always believed in the transformative power of reading, especially books. Dr. Carson is a living example of why.<\/p>\n\t\t