Renowned neurosurgeon speaks at UNCW

UNCW's Upperman African American Cultural Center hosted Dr. Benjamin S. Carson as the keynote speaker at UNCW's annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, Thursday, Jan. 21.  He presented his speech "Think Big: Seeing Past Your Limitations, Realizing Your Talents."  Tickets for the event were sold out in all three venues.

"I realize that for many of you sitting here today, the Civil Rights Movement was not something you simply studied in a textbook. Many of you lived it," Carson said. "But the legacy of Dr. King is relevant to all of us." 

Carson is the director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University, the author of several books, and an accomplished surgeon, completing the first successful separation of Siamese twins in 1987. Carson has been recognized as one of "America's Best Leaders" by U.S. News & World Report and Harvard's Center for Public Leadership. In 2008, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. 

According to Carson, he was not always the wise, esteemed man that he is today. He spent years at the bottom of his class, marginalized by his race and consumed by his hot-temper. At the age of 14, Carson tried to stab another boy, who fortunately was not hurt. 

Carson owes his success to the dedication of his mother, who only made it through third grade and worked 2 to 3 jobs to support Carson and his older brother.  According to Carson, she held her sons to extremely high standards, pushing them to achieve academic excellence. Even though she struggled to pay the bills, Carson's mother refused to accept welfare, because she believed that people became too dependent on it and were never stable without it. She refused to adopt a "victim's attitude," despite her unfortunate circumstances. 

Dr. Carson also shared that his grades drastically improved when his mother made him turn off the T.V. He was inspired by missionaries who dedicated their lives to helping others and knew he was "born to be a surgeon" but wasn't getting the grades to make his dream come true. His mother required him to read two books a week and write reports on them. One of his favorite books was "Up From Slavery," the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington. The book made him realize that he was ultimately responsible for his own success, and that he needed to stop making excuses. 

A parent attendee, Janice Wade. found Carson's presentation to be relevant to parents as well as to students. "It's easy to overlook learning for the sake of learning," Wade said. "As a parent he reminded me to keep my kids motivated with their schoolwork." 

Carson graduated with honors from high school and studied psychology at Yale University where he met his wife, Candy. He went to medical school at the University of Michigan, where his interests switched from psychology to neurosurgery. Today, Carson operates on nearly 300 children a year. 

Carson sees himself as an unintentional civil rights activist. In his line of work, the color of his patients' skin is irrelevant. 

"When I open that skull and look at that brain, I can't tell whether it's a black brain, white brain, Asian brain or Hispanic brain," Carson said. "They are all the same. That's what makes you the person you are, not the racial stuff." 

Carson believes that if Dr. King were alive today he would be alarmed at the political divide in the U.S. 

"Diversity is our strength," Carson said. "We should be proud of our nation. A house divided among itself will not stand." 

"School can get really tough, but now I feel encouraged not to give up," said Issac Bear Early College student Ashley Wade. 

"The person who has the most to do with what happens to you, is you," Carson said.