In my Literature class at school we are reading the book Gifted Hands, by Ben Carson. In this book Ben gives his life story on how he overcame poverty, racism, and a violent temper to become a world-renowned neurosurgeon. Ben’s father left his mother, Sonya, when he was only eight. His mother was raised in an orphanage and only had a third-grade education. She was faced with the difficult task of raising her sons Ben and Curtis by herself. She worked as a maid, sometimes holding two or even three jobs to support her family. The family was poor, and Ben was often bullied at school. After Ben brought home a report card of failing grades, his mother quickly limited her sons' television and required them to read two books a week. The boys then had to give written reports to their mother on what they read. While other children were outside playing, Sonya Carson forced her boys to stay inside and read, an act for which her friends criticized her, saying that her sons would grow up to hate her. Ben later realized that because of her own limited education, his mother often could not read her sons' reports, and was moved by her efforts to motivate them to a better life. Bens mother made a huge impact on his life. In his book gifted hands he admits that without her, he would not be where he is today. When he would feel like giving up on school, it was her that always encouraged him and his brother to do the very best that they could. Because of her lack of education, she wanted her boys to be successful and she knew that they would be. Ben started pulling ahead in school and his desire to be smart grew stronger and stronger. One day he thought to himself, “It must be a lot of fun for everybody to know you’re the smartest kid in the class.” That was the day he decided that the only way to know for sure how it would feel was to become the smartest. Before long, Ben moved from the bottom of the class to the top. However, there was resentment from his classmates at