Young people are equipped with the most fabulous computer system in the universe—the human brain. And educators have the gift and responsibility to encourage children to use their brains and follow their dreams, pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson told his General Session audience. "The intellect is there—all we need to do is give them the direction."
Ben Carson
Carson is director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Md., and is well-known for his surgical skill and daring in separating several sets of conjoined twins. But Carson wasn't always known for his intellect. Many students might now call the doctor "a brain," but in fifth grade he was the worst student in his class. In elementary school, Carson said, his nickname was "Dummy."
Carson credits his mother for turning him around. After getting fed up with his low grades, his mother limited the amount of television he watched and required him to read two books a week and write book reports for her. Little did he know that his mother, who had only a third-grade education, couldn't read his reports. But this wise mother started young Benjamin on the path to reading and gave him the tools to explore his natural area of interest—science. After reading about rocks and sharing his knowledge in class one day, "Benny" revealed to his teacher and classmates just how clever he was.
He described his transformation over the next two years this way: "When I was in the 5th grade I thought I was stupid. So I conducted myself like a stupid person. And I achieved like a stupid person." Then he began reading everything he could get his hands on, and he gained confidence in his abilities. "When I was in the 7th grade, I thought I was smart. So I conducted myself like a smart person and achieved like a smart person. So what does that say about expectations?"
Adults can be "discouragers" or "encouragers," Carson noted; we need to work on making students believe in themselves. He and his wife, Candy, started a scholarship program to encourage academic achievement and humanitarian work by young people. The program awards scholarships of $1,000 to worthy 4th–12th graders in selected states and celebrates their achievements with trophies and banquets.
Besides his own story, Carson shared his Think Big philosophy, which encourages people to strive for excellence:
T is for talent. Use the talent that God gave you to elevate other people.H is for honesty. Lead a clean and honest life.I is for insight, which comes from listening to people.N is for nice. Be nice to people, and they'll be nice to you.K is for knowledge—the thing that makes you a more valuable person.B is for books, the mechanism for obtaining knowledge.I is for in-depth learning—learning for the sake of knowledge and understanding as opposed to superficial learning.G is for God. Godly principles include loving your fellow man, caring about your neighbor, developing your God-given talent to the utmost so that you become valuable to the people around you, and having values.
In summary, Carson said, "I see no group better situated than educators to teach those values to the next generation."