Convocation Speech

           Dr. Ben Carson spoke on the purpose of a University. He said that a university's purpose is for us to expand our minds, and not to be put in a container. So he asked how we can have progress if we are taught not to say what we think, and not to think a certain way. Next he spoke about how fortunate he was to have a mother that supported him academically. His mother was illiterate, but forced him to read two books a week while in elementary school. Dr. Carson hated it at first, but over time he began to realize that he could go anywhere through the pages of the books he read. Then after a while he figured out that he could control his own future, and he went from the bottom of the class to the top of the class in the span of a year. In addition, he said that a requirement of success is to take self-responsibility. Afterward when Dr. Carson got into med school his advisor told him that he wasn't cut out for medicine. So Dr. Carson thought about his situation and looked at his own strengths and weaknesses. Then saw that he excelled in classes that required more reading and less listening to boring lectures. So instead of going to the boring lectures, he would study and read. Med school after that went great for Dr. Carson. He implored that us young people must learn to be encouragers, and to come up with new way of thinking. In conclusion Dr. carson asked a very important question. "If we only do what has been done before, how can we progress?" So our generation must take a step forward from the last and create a new ay of doing things. Dr. Carson's  convocation speech was a true testimony to self responsibility of education.