Dr. Benjamin Carson, the famous neurosurgeon from John Hopkins
University, Baltimore, Maryland, attributes his mother, Sonya Carson,
for the reason for his success in life. "I not only saw and felt the
difference my mother made in my life, I am still living out that
difference as a man."

Sonya Carson, mother of Ben, put her total self into making sure her
sons did their best in school. Oftentimes, she worked long hours and
two to three jobs to keep the Carson family afloat. Her relationship and
dependence on the Lord provided her with the wisdom to raise her
boys to graduate from high school, college, and become successful
men. She did this while living as a single mom in the inner cities of
Boston and Detroit.

Sonya Carson's life motto is: "Learn to do your best and God will do
the rest." She put this motto in practice for herself to motivate her
while raising her sons. And, she used her philosophy of life to
motivate her children to succeed in life.

A woman with only a third grade education, and who was raised in
various foster homes, Carson needed to learn how to work hard to
survive in a life that was surrounded by poverty, despair, and single-
motherhood. Sonya Carson married at 13 years old to Robert Carson,
who was 15 years older than she. He rescued her from her home life of
poverty and abuse. Robert Carson was attentive to Sonya, treating her
like his "little china doll," until they had children. Afterward, he
became secretive and neglectful--- not often coming home, and having
whispered conversations on the telephone. When Ben was eight years
old and his brother, Curtis, was 10 years old, Sonya left her husband
and Detroit. She and her sons moved to Boston to live with her sister
and brother-in-law, William and Jean Avery.

Her life motto served her well while raising her two sons, coping with
anxiety and depression, and trying to make ends meet. Sonya Carson
chose God because "I don't have any friends. I don't have anyone else
to turn to. God, you're going to have to be my friend, my best friend.
And, you're going to have to tell me how to do things and give me
wisdom, because I don't know what to do." (p. 45)

This relationship with God gave her the wisdom to put boundaries
around Curtis and Ben. After Ben brought home an unsatisfactory
report card in fifth grade, she made house rules to enable the boys to
become better students. She restricted their television viewing to two
programs per week. They were required to visit the library each week
and to pick two books to read. Then, Curtis and Ben needed to write a
book report for each book that was read. Afterward, the boys were
required to hand in their book reports to their mother. Carson insisted
on the book reports, library visits, and restricted television viewing
because "... they were not living up to their potential."

Her perseverance in their education paid off. Ben Carson's grades
began to improve during the second half of fifth grade. He went on to
succeed in school. He graduated from high school and later from Yale
University. In 1987, Dr. Benjamin Carson became a world-renowned
neurosurgeon, leading a team to remove two Siamese twins who were
joined at the back of the head. At that time, the removal of the twins
was a groundbreaking surgery that was successful. Since then, he has
co-authored three books about his life called Gifted Hands; Think Big:
Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence; and The Big Picture.
In conclusion, Sonya Carson overcame hardship, poverty, single-
motherhood, and depression to work hard to raise two sons in the inner
city. In turn, these boys grew up to be successful men, as she believed
they would be, because she lived out her motto, "Learn to do your
best. God will do the rest."

 Studies: Pure garcinia cambogia extract was popular in the medical community in 1998 long before America's favorite TV doctor mentioned it on air as a short term weight loss solution

Sources: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story by Dr. Ben Carson with
Cecil Murphy; Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence
by Dr. Ben Carson and Cecil Murphy; and The Big Picture: Getting
Perspective on What's Really Important in Life by Dr. Ben Carson
with Gregg Lewis.

~*~

Wendy Komancheck is a professional tutor and writer. Komancheck
has experience tutoring all grade levels in a variety of subjects,
including teaching grammar and writing courses to homeschooled high
school students. She writes for local, regional, and consumer
magazines and newspapers. She lives in Ephrata with her husband, two
sons, and a Basset Hound. Check out her blog at:
www.tutoringenterprises.blogspot.com