Dr. Ben Carsen grew up in a poor single-parent household in Detroit. His mother, who had only a 3rd grade education, worked two jobs cleaning bathrooms. To his classmates and even to his teachers, he was thought of as the dumbest kid in the class, according to his own not-so-fond memories.
He had a terrible temper, and once threatened to kill another child. Dr. Carsen was headed down a path of self-destruction until a critical moment in his youth. His mother, convinced that she had to do something dramatic to prevent him from leading a life of failure, laid down some rules. He could not watch television except for two programs a week, could not play with his friends after school until he finished his homework, and had to read two books a week and write book reports about them. His mother's strategy worked. "Of course, I didn't know she couldn't read. So there I was submitting these reports." he said. "She would put check marks on them like she had been reading them. As I began to read about scientists, economists and philosophers, I started imagining myself in their shoes." As he got into the habit of hard work, his grades began to soar. Ultimately he received a scholarship to attend the Yale University, and later he was admitted to the University of Michigan Medical School.
He is now a leading surgeon at Johns Hopkins Medical School and he's also the author of three books.