Richard J.
McClements,
I just love reading about people who accomplished greatness after being told earlier that they had no potential. I heard the following story on Paul Harvey’s radio program, “Now You Know the Rest of the Story.” I am assuming that most of you missed that program. The person in that story is someone I suspect every person reading this article knows, and I think you’ll be as surprised to learn his name as I was. The following is my paraphrasing of Paul Harvey’s story.
A young man, named XXXX, had a horrendous high
school record. He was literally failing
every subject; his attendance was terrible; and he wasn’t particularly popular
with his peers. At the end of 10th
grade, he met with his guidance counselors who told him that he should
seriously consider quitting school. They
informed him that he had no apparent potential and was bound for failure. While he did not like school, the young man
decided
to give it another try. He returned for his junior year and put forth
some
effort, but he simply did not have
the academic foundation to do the work.
He failed every grade that year.
Facing reality, XXXX quit school after his junior
year. In spite of the fact that he was
terrible in math, XXXX
got a job as a teller in a bank. After a
short while, XXXX suddenly found that numbers were fascinating. He started going to the library and taking
out books about math and became a highly proficient mathematician. He also acquired a hunger for learning,
especially anything pertaining to the written word. Whereas before he could barely read or write,
he became highly articulate. His thirst
for knowledge became so insatiable; he obtained a GED and enrolled in a
college.
Many
of you see this man every evening on T.V.
Now you know the rest of the story.
His name is (the first name is the same as a disciple of Jesus)
J-n----s, News Anchor or Peter Jennings.
Parents, don’t ever let anyone tell you that your children are incapable of
accomplishing success and prominence. We
in the schools have, by no means, perfected our assessment tools, whereby we
can predict success with any degree of certainty. Many students are late bloomers and don’t
necessarily achieve on the same schedule by which school courses or state
testing programs operate. History has
shown us literally thousands and thousands of people who were once told by
someone that they were academically deficient.
Prove those naysayers wrong, as did those who achieved some of history’s
most profound and lasting accomplishments.