From Homeless to Harvard: The Story of David Boone.

David Boone was only 14 years old when his family lost their home to gang violence in Cleveland, Ohio. The teenager’s problems arose when he refused to join a gang. In retaliation, their house was riddled with bullets. Consequently, the family split up, causing David to become homeless. Most of the time, he had to sleep in the park but only in the afternoon because it was not safe to do so in the night.

His high school principal, Jeff McClellan, was highly impressed with boy’s constant early arrival in school (he was getting up at 5 a.m.) not knowing that he was homeless. By the time the principal realized the situation, he and his wife resolved to take David in to live with them for over a year. The young man graduated from high school as the salutatorian and was accepted to Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Cornell, Yale, and University of Pennsylvania among others. He however chose Harvard University on a full scholarship from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

David Boone’s life is a classic example of an inspiring “grass to grace” story especially in the black community. In his community, too many young people are lurking in street corners to sell drugs, pimping women or wasting away in jails. Their usual excuses for taking the wrong paths can be as silly as lame and nonsensical. For instance, if the reason alluded to their negative situations in life is not due to the “lack of a father figure” in their lives, it will be because of their skin color or something else that can irritate a sane mind. Yet, in spite of the fact that David Boone could have easily hidden behind similar excuses if he wanted to drop out of school early on or to pursue a criminal enterprise, he worked hard to be where he is today.

Beware of Your Associates.

Why do some individuals appear to have perennial relationship problems?

A person enters into a relationship and before long, it’s all over and they start wondering what goes wrong; is the problem with them or the erstwhile partners?

There are married couples who just can’t comprehend why their spouses often do things that are inimical to the success of their marriages.

The first step here is for the affected individuals to prepare a list of their five closest associates.  Now, the closest associates may be friends, siblings or (and) relations. Studies have proved that a person’s attitude to life, social grace (or a lack of it), spirituality, work ethics and several other character traits are mostly shaped or influenced by their closest associates. Traits such as drug addiction, alcoholism, infidelity, indolence, and other social vices don’t just suddenly feature in the character of an individual. They are the direct or indirect manifestations of the influence of closest associates. 

Subsequently, there is a need for an intensive evaluation of each associate, taking particular note of their positive and negative influences. For associates whose negative traits out-number the positive, it’s time to do away with them.

The last step to take in this process is the re-inventing of the individual.

A friend once explained why it took him so long to get married. It was due to the negative influences of some erstwhile friends. Erroneously seen as a “player”, whenever he had a woman in his life, the naive guy would go seeking the approvals of his friends. And then, the criticisms would start to roll in. If the friends did not consider the woman a “gold digger”, she would be crucified for being too arrogant. And when the next woman that came along was not found to be a “girl-about-town”, she would be condemned for being a “slut”. That was until it occurred to the poor man that the same friends were actually married to women who variously fitted the profiles they were criticizing in the women that came his way. He discarded the friends and proceeded to reinvent himself.

And there was a former colleague whose marriage ran into murky waters due to the constant suspicion of infidelity she placed on her husband. Somehow, the source of all these suspicions was a blood relation (her cousin). The couple was at the brink of getting a divorce when the secrets were let out. The mischievous cousin finally confessed and while the victim of her gross misdeeds accepted the apology, she instantly did away with the cousin.

It was Cherie Burbach who opined that “when determining which types of people will make great friends, it’s important to note who might be considered a negative friend. A negative friend is slightly different than a ‘frenemy’ in that they actually do want the best for you, but they focus on the downsides to any situation. For example, if you announce that you have won a lottery, there are friends who will not congratulate you. Instead, they will begin talking about how you’ll have to pay some hefty tax. In another example, if you announce that you’ve got a new, better job, don’t expect everyone to wish you well. That’s when some friends will express pity that you’re now going to be working so many hours.”

With friends or associates like that, you really don’t need any enemy!