Out of the Box

I am a person that has had to teach myself that I am smart. Or rather, that I am not dumb. In school, I never did exceptionally well. There was classes I did great such as grade 7… I am sure I did good. I had the biggest crush on Mr. Taylor. So I was engaged.

On the whole I sucked. When it came time for the standard testing that they do … you remember… those tests that you fill in the circles… I filled the circles by making patterns. Or maybe it was time to circle B because I already squiggled too many A’s and C’s.

I don’t remember being hyper active but judging myself as an adult, I am sure to be classified as ADHD if I were in school today.

Why is it that people with energy have to be classified? Why is it that there isn’t something to describe the normal person… with not as much energy?

Really, as one time teacher… why have we not done something about the kids that don’t learn inside the box? Why are they are classified?

As I watch a couple of my sons that don’t learn in the box… the sitting down, taking notes, concentrate quietly, I found myself fuming. Why don’t we test how kids learn as young ones and then teach them that way? If you are a right brain child and have extra energy flowing through you… you are lost.

Well there are schools but you would have to pay money most don’t have. So I feel frustrated for those kids that are labeled.
I feel bad that hyper activity is a negative.

Yet check this out:

Ansel Adams (1902-1984) — Photographer

Ann Bancroft — (1931-present) — Actress

Alexander Graham Bell — (1862-1939) — Telephone Inventor

Harry Andersen — (1952-present) — Actor

Hans Christian Anderson — (1805-1875) — Author

Beethoven — (1770-1827) — Composer

Harry Belafonte — (1927-present) — Actor, Vocalist

Col. Gregory “Pappy” Boyington — (1912-1988)
WWII Flying Ace (Black Sheep Squadron Leader)

Terry Bradshaw — (1948-Present) — Football Quarterback

George Burns — (1896-1996) — Actor

Sir Richard Francis Burton — (1821-1890)
Explorer, Linguist, Scholar, Writer

Admiral Richard Byrd — (1888-1957) — Aviator
(Was retired from the navy as, “Unfit for service”)

Thomas Carlyle — (1795-1881)
Scottish historian, critic, and sociological writer

Andrew Carnegie – (1835-1919) Industialist

Jim Carrey — (1962-present) — Comedian

Lewis Carroll — (1832-1898) — Author (Alice in Wonderland)

Prince Charles — (1948-present) — Future King of England

Cher (1946-present)— Actress/Singer

Agatha Christie — (1890-1976) — Author

Winston Churchill — (1874-1965) — Statesman (Failed the sixth grade)

Bill Cosby — (1937-present) — Actor

Tom Cruise — (1962-present) — Actor

Harvey Cushing M.D. — (1869-1939)
Greatest Neurosurgeon of the 20th Century

Salvador Dali — (1904-1989) —Artist

Leonardo da Vinci — (1452-1519) — Inventor, Artist

John Denver — (1943-1997) — Musician

Walt Disney — (1901-1971)
(A newspaper editor fired him because he had “No good ideas”.)

Kirk Douglas — (1916-present) — Actor

Thomas Edison — (1847-1931) — Inventor
(His teachers told him he was too stupid to learn anything)

Albert Einstein — (1879-1955) — Physicist
(Famous Tongue Sticking Out Picture)
(Einstein was four years old before he could speak,
and seven before he could read)

Dwight D. Eisenhower — (1890-1969) — U. S. President, Military General

Michael Faraday — (1791-1867) — British Physicist, Chemist

F. Scott Fitzgerald — (1896-1940) — Author

Malcolm Forbes — (1919-1990) — Forbes Magazine Founder & Publisher

Henry Ford — (1863-1947) — Automobile Innovator

Benjamin Franklin — (1706 – 1790) — Politician, Elder Statesman

Galileo (Galilei) — (1564-1642) — Mathematician, Astronomer

Danny Glover — (1947-present) — Actor

Tracey Gold — (1969-present) — Actress

Whoopi Goldberg — (1955-present) — Actress

Georg Frideric Handel — (1685-1759) — Composer

Valerie Hardin — Gothic Poet, Artist, Children’s Author

Mariette Hartley — (1940-present)
Actress (Tells of her and daughter’s ADD)

William Randolph Hearst — (1863-1951) — Newspaper Magnate

Ernest Hemingway — (1899-1961) — Author

Mariel Hemingway — (1961) — Actress

Milton Hershey — “The Chocolate King” — (1857-1945)

Dustin Hoffman — (1937-present) — Actor

Bruce Jenner — (1949-present) — Athlete

Luci Baines Johnson (1947-present) — LBJ’s Daughter

“Magic” Johnson — (1959-present) — Basketball Player

Samuel Johnson — Author

Michael Jordan — (1963-present) — Basketball Player

John F. Kennedy — (1917-1963) — U. S. President

Robert F. Kennedy — (1925-1968) — U.S. Attorney General

Jason Kidd — (1973-present) — Professional Basketball Player

John Lennon — (1940-1980) — Musician

Frederick Carlton (Carl) Lewis — (1961-present)
Olympic Gold Metalist, American track-and-field athlete.

Meriwether Lewis (Lewis & Clark) — (1774 -1809) — Explorer

Abraham Lincoln — (1809-1865) — U.S. President
(Entered The Black Hawk War as a Captain and came out a Private)

Greg Louganis — (1960-present) — Olympic Gold Medalist (Diving)

James Clerk Maxwell — (1831-1879) — British Physicist

Steve McQueen — (1930-1980) — Actor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — (1756-1791) — Composer

Napoleon Bonaparte — (1769-1873) — Emperor

Nasser (Gamal Abdel-nasser) — (1918-1970) — Egyptian Leader

Sir Issac Newton —(1642-1727) — Scientist, Mathematician
(Did poorly in grade school)

Nostradamus — (1503-1566) — Physician, Prophet

Ozzy Osbourne — (1948-present) — said he was ADHD on TV

Louis Pasteur — (1822-1895) — Scientist
(Rated as mediocre in chemistry when he attended the Royal College)

General George Patton — (1885-1945) — Military

Pablo Picasso — (1882-1973) — Artist

Edgar Allan Poe — (1809-1849) — Author, Poet

Rachmaninov — (1873-1943) — Composer

Eddie Rickenbacker — (1890-1973) — WWI Flying Ace

John D. Rockefeller — (1839-1937)
Founder, Standard Oil Company

Nelson Rockefeller — (1908-1979) — U.S. Vice President

August Rodin — (1840-1917) — Artist, Sculptor

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt — (1844-1962) — First Lady

Pete Rose — (1941-present) — Baseball Player

Babe Ruth — (1895-1948) — Baseball Legend

Nolan Ryan — (1947-present) — Baseball Player

Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat — (1918-1981) — Egyptian President
Nobel Peace Prize Winner in 1976

George C. Scott — (1927-present) — Actor

George Bernard Shaw — (1856-1950)—Author

Will Smith — Actor, Rapper, Entertainer

Tom Smothers — (1937-present) — Actor, Singer, Entertainer

Socrates — (469-399 B.C.) — Philosopher

Suzanne Somers — (1946-present) — Actress

Steven Spielberg — (1946-present) — Filmmaker

Sylvester Stallone — (1946-present) — Actor

Jackie Stewart — (1939-present) — Grand Prix Hall of Famer

James Stewart — (1908-1997) — Actor

Henry David Thoreau — (1817-1862) — Author

(Lev Nikolayevich) Leo Tolstoy — (1828-1910) — Russian Author
(Flunked out of college)

Alberto Tomba — (1966-present) — Italian Alpine Ski Champion

Vincent van Gogh — (1853-1890) — Artist

Russell Varian — (1899-1959) — Inventor

Jules Verne — (1828-1905) — Author

Werner von Braun — (1912-1977) — Rocket Scientist
Flunked 9th grade algebra.

Lindsay Wagner — (1949-present) — Actress (Bionic Woman)

Gen. William C. Westmoreland — (1914-present) — Military (Vietnam Era)

Robin Williams — (1952-present) — Comedian

Woodrow Wilson — (1856-1924) — U. S. President

Henry Winkler — (1945-present) — Actor (Fonzie)

Stevie Wonder — (1950-present ) — Musician

F. W. Woolworth — (1852-1919) — Department Store Innovator
(While working in a dry goods store at 21, his employers wouldn’t let him
wait on a customer because he “Didn’t have enough sense.”)

Frank Lloyd Wright — (1867-1959) — Architect

Orville Wright — (1871-1948) — Airplane Developer

Wilber Wright — (1867-1912) — Airplane Developer

William Wrigley, Jr. — (1933-1999) — Chewing Gum Maker

William Butler Yeat

I don’t know who every one is but do know that they are all famous for amazing contributions to society. They also all have/had ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

One day maybe my name will be listed.

Short attention span, moving a mile a minute are not bad qualities. They are just characteristics that can be misunderstood or even annoying. Yet if embraced and encouraged, if modeled and shaped in positive ways… imagine what can come out of the box!

Giftedness and greatness that did not fit in a box!