"From Dyslexic Girl to Wealthy Algorithm Designer" – Brilliant Minds Who Shined Against the Odds

I started teaching fourth graders in a rural school. The homeroom teacher told me one boy was so behind that he couldn’t read or write, and they didn’t know what to do with him. It turned out he just had poor eyesight, so I got him glasses. By the time he graduated eighth grade, he had won several essay and short story awards and is now excelling in university, studying history and literature.

I taught Marika in sixth grade. Her test scores were always low, but at the blackboard, she knew things I hadn’t even taught yet. I discovered she was dyslexic. The “quirky Marika,” as classmates and half the teachers called her, is now a millionaire algorithm designer.

Shon Hopwood was an average American in his twenties, discharged from the Navy due to illness. Lost and unsure, he turned to robbing banks in Nebraska and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. While inside, he became fascinated by law and successfully appealed a fellow inmate’s case, leading to his release. He helped others shorten their sentences by 3 to 10 years. After release, he earned a law degree and now teaches law at a university, choosing education over a lucrative legal career.

A new colleague laughed during lunch about always failing math in school. But when we went out to the field and had to calculate, he blew me away by mentally solving complex problems faster than I could with a calculator. Multiplying three-digit numbers in seconds – this guy’s a genius. I’d love to chat with his math teachers.

Berti was my classmate in elementary school. He was failing everything, disliked by teachers, and the homeroom teacher told him he’d never amount to anything. He often cried to me, ashamed of feeling dumb. After his family moved to Sweden, he was diagnosed with ADHD. Now, on medication, he’s top of his class at one of the country’s top medical universities.

While working at a security company in Germany, we got a young Sudanese immigrant who barely spoke German. Everyone wrote things down for him and gave him only simple tasks. At a ten-day event with many challenges, he always had brilliant solutions. I realized he was a genius held back only by language. I convinced the company to enroll him in language classes. A year later, when my contract ended, I recommended him for my position. He became the boss of those who once underestimated and dismissed him.

My dad barely finished elementary school—he was considered slow. He trained as an electrician and at 35 saw a TV show that made him realize he wasn’t dumb, just dyslexic (a little-known condition back then). Now 50, he holds two degrees, runs two successful companies, and teaches university classes. Without that discovery, he might have believed he was unintelligent his whole life.

My grandmother grew up in deep poverty in the countryside and only completed four years of school because she had to work. She married at 16, raised six kids, and still calls herself a “simple country woman,” but she’s one of the smartest people I know. She has amazing technical skills—fixing lawnmowers, trimmers, blenders—and though she never learned to drive, she handles a tractor like a pro. Now 82, she loves new technology and taught herself to use computers and smartphones like a champ. It saddens me to think what she could have achieved with different opportunities.

A university classmate was always trying to break the record for "longest drunken streak," sometimes going weeks without sobering up. He never studied—either drinking or chasing girls—but still regularly aced the toughest exams. He said he wasn’t interested in university and only stayed because his parents pushed him. A born genius living as a functional alcoholic right before my eyes.

I have a degree and was always good at math. My cousin dropped out of high school and worked as a cleaner all his life. At a family Christmas, we baked a sponge cake. The recipe called for 3/4 cup of flour, but we doubled it. While I tried to calculate 2 x 0.75 in my head, he simply filled the cup three-quarters full, poured it in, then repeated. That’s when I realized intelligence is so relative.

Photos: istockphoto.com, X.com