Your Education
Starts With a Book
“I know from my own education, that if I had not encountered two or three individuals that spent extra time with me, I would have been in Jail.”
-Steve Jobs
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
-Nelson Mandela
As a young boy, the odds were never in his favor. He was stranded on a tiny island in the Bahamas waiting for a boat to pick him up. He nearly died as this small boat snuck into America through a corner of the Bermuda Triangle. In his new country, he felt like a wimpy kid. Overwhelmed with many challenges, he did not believe in himself and wanted to give up. But in this world of darkness, he found refuge, hope and light in the magic of books.
Today, he no longer feels wimpy as an adult. He has the privilege to help his patients by getting into their chests and fixing their hearts. But don’t worry, A Boy and a Book is not about heart surgery. This is a true story of hope, imagination and courage that allowed a young boy to overcome great obstacles through the power of an education. In A Boy and a Book, he will show you how you can do it as well. It worked for him, and it will work for you.
OUR STORY
Against all odds as a new undocumented immigrant in America, I had one monumental advantage. And at that time, I didn’t even know it. As a young boy, even before taking my first steps inside a school building, my mama had introduced me to books and to the magic of reading. Yes, my Mama and my abuelitas had drilled in my mind the idea that through an education, everything is possible. This was in fact what I discovered when I had lost all hope and did not believe in myself as I faced many obstacles, including not knowing the new language, having to start all over again in a new country, and facing the daily hurt of other kids making fun of my accent, calling me a refugee, and yelling at me to go back to my own country.
Books provided me an escape into another world, and it was through the magic of reading that I began to feel that I belonged in America. My life was transformed when I decided that my only path to succeed was through an education. This is what A Boy and a Book is about. It is a story of hope, imagination, and courage that will show you how through the magic of books you can overcome all obstacles and make your dreams a reality.
Through my story, I will show you how you can do it as well. I will describe my own technique for studying. It consists of three steps that will make anyone a better student. It worked for me at Princeton University, Harvard medical school and MIT, and it will work for any young person who dreams of success in academic institutions. This is the book that I wish I would have read when I was feeling overwhelmed, and this is the book that I am confident can help any student do better in school.
