Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

Bennie is unaware of how poor his eyesight is prior to undergoing the school eye exam and receiving free glasses, which prove to be the first “positive,” and a step towards improved grades. Though Bennie is feeling good about his improved grades—including a D in math, instead of an F—his mother is not satisfied; Mrs. Carson’s scheme to improve Bennie’s grades is the second positive, although at first, he was not on board with the changes she institutes. To begin, she tells him to memorize his times tables. Next, she limits Bennie’s and Curtis’s television viewing to three programs a week. And finally, she insists that they check out and read two books a week from the local library, telling Bennie, “The doors of the world are open to people who can read” (37). Wider reading leads to improvement in his school performance, and he enters seventh grade at the top of his class and having the respect of his classmates. Carson notes that he no longer was focused on competing with classmates, but rather on “being the very best I could be—for me” (40). He reflects that his own intellectual development brought him to see through the