Ben Carson, an African-American pediatric neurosurgeon and former Republican candidate for the United States Presidency, was born in Detroit, Michigan. He went to Yale, then to the University of Michigan for medical school. An author of numerous books and an incredible neurosurgeon, Carson is extremely smart. He sadly dropped out of the presidential race when he “did not see a political path forward.”

I think many Americans overlooked Ben Carson, who he is as a person, and why he would have made a great president. Carson’s amazing story is what makes him the man he is today.

When Carson was 8 years old, his father abandoned his family. He grew up with a horrible temper. He hurt his friends and had trouble controlling his anger. He struggled in school, physically and mentally. He was at the bottom of his class, and didn’t seem like he was ever going to get out of that. It was as if all hope was lost for Carson.

For me, he epitomizes the American dream.

Carson’s mother dropped out of school in the 3^rd grade. Uneducated and illiterate, Carson’s mother made it a point for her two sons to be pushed as hard as possible to become as well-educated as they could be. She worked so hard to provide for her children. She worked three jobs just to maintain a stable salary.

She pushed her sons to unimaginable heights. She was the reason they both succeeded.

Because of his mother, Carson began to read. He found it more enjoyable than television. He then went to the top of his class. He was criticized for being a black boy at the top of an all-white class, but that only made him want to shine even brighter. From there came his entrance to the Ivy League, and then his dreams of being a doctor were within his reach.

He is the epitome of the American dream. Ben Carson truly had nothing, but he held his head high, and refused to face defeat. He wouldn’t let anything get in his way, not poverty, not anger, not even learning deficiencies.

Ben Carson is truly one of the most admirable people in America. His drive for success and to create something so amazing out of nothing is something so overlooked by Americans, but something so vital to Ben Carson’s story. Carson’s story is one for the books.