So I do not think it has to be near death experience. There was young boy from Harlem, a few years back, amazing kid. Had a part-time job, traveled more than hour from school each way. Got into 6 IVs, including Harvard. This was a kid that had a tough life but not near death -- not one they mentioned, just a tough life.
You mean Dan Peralta. The kid is an amazing Classicist. His life reads like one trauma after another. He was predisposed to bury himself in something as a way to escape.
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2046122&page=1I know two Nobel shortlisted men who suffered horrible injuries as children. They spent years reading as a result.
Milton became blind and was on the losing side of the English Civil War.
Patton had Dyslexia and nearly failed out of Westpoint.
I am not saying you need trauma, but the drive can spill over from mere survival to other areas.
I wonder if going into Hunter in 7th grade is like a mini-immigration experience? Wouldn't they have more to prove?
