An Evening with Dr. Ben Carson

On Monday, March 6th, I had an awesome opportunity to witness Dr. Ben Carson interviewed by Ian Grant and Petra Bagust. Dr. Carson is a neurosurgeon (brain surgeon), who has performed the only successful separation of Siamese twins joined at the brain, among other things. Ian Grant is the founder of Parents Incorporated, and Petra Bagust is co-host on the Breakfast show. The event was sponsored by Sanitarium and the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

It was a pleasant surprise to more than one of us that, despite seat numbers having been allocated, you could sit anywhere, enabling us to sit with more of our friends than had been expected. The evening opened (I mean the official part, of course we’d been talking first! lol) with a couple of songs sung by men’s group Day 7 and a prayer.

Finally, the interviewers and interviewee were introduced, accompanied by loud applause. Following the introductions, we were shown a few clips from Gifted Hands, a movie about Dr. Carson. Then the interviewing began. His opinion was asked on matters of family, parenting, creation, and a few other topics. The interview itself was divided into three sections. During the first break everyone was asked to stand and sing the melody (Day 7 would harmonize) for “How Great Thou Art/How Great is Our God.” It was an unusual mix of the two songs I hadn’t heard before; we sang part of “How Great Thou Art,” followed by the chorus for “How Great is Our God,” after which we reverted back to the first song.

Dr. Carson shared from his own life as he challenged and encouraged us to achieve our best. As a young boy, he was failing in school. His mother, an illiterate woman who provided a living by cleaning houses for wealthier people, believed her sons were capable of whatever they put their minds to. She began requiring two book reports every week from each of her sons. This (of course!) greatly increased Ben’s knowledge, which was reflected in his grades.

Throughout the evening, he shared a few study techniques, including the use of flashcards, which he found to be helpful when he was at college. In fact he repeated them so often that his brother (who was studying engineering) learnt all the bacteria without even trying! Another technique for studying for a test was to go to the place where you would take the test, and associate pieces of information with various things in the room, i.e. A list with the door handle.

Many people say ‘don’t set your expectations too high,’ but Dr. Carson says exactly the opposite –set your expectations high, because you most likely won’t rise above your expectations, and people will generally live up or down to the expectations they and others have of them.

Another point made was that your brain remembers EVERYTHING you put in it –through sight, hearing, and so on – so be careful what you put in! Dr. Carson illustrated this by mentioning a trend he noticed in the prisoners he visited every week for a while; they had lived seemingly normal lives, then one day after they’d had too much alcohol or drugs, they would ‘act out’ what they had put in their brains previously –through mediums such as movies.

Something Dr. Carson really stressed throughout the evening was for people to follow their beliefs, regardless of what is politically correct.

All in all, it was an amazing few hours I would love to repeat!

So.....can you see us? We're up the top on the left!