Inspirational Stories
 
Inspirational Stories of Young People Making a Difference
History and contemporary society is full of amazing stories of young people who have made a huge difference to their world. The Bank of I.D.E.A.S. is beginning to collect these stories and circulate them. Did you know for example:
  • Joan of Arc lead 3,000 French knights to victory in the Battle of Orleans at age 17
  • Mozart composed his first symphony at age 6
  • Einstein wrote his first paper on the theory of relativity at age 16
  • Steven Spielberg wrote and directed his first large scale movie – ‘Firelight’ at age 16.

 If you have a story, please share it with us.

Click on one of the stories below
Thomas
Louis
Genius is 99% Perspiration
 
Thomas Top ^
Thomas as an eight year old was a sickly child and struggled due to his partial deafness. Academically he lagged behind his peers. Both fellow students and teachers continuously ridiculed him for his perceived slowness.

One day Thomas returned home from school with a note from his school principal explaining he was being expelled from school due to his slowness and poor academic performance. His mother responded by teaching Thomas at home within a loving and accepting environment. Soon, Thomas started to develop a new appreciation of learning, and began devising new inventions.

When Thomas finally died, an entire nation – The USA – honoured him by switching off the lights throughout the USA for one minute. This Thomas was Thomas Alva Edison, inventor of the light bulb and phonograph.

Louis Top ^
Louis was born in 1809. At age three he lost his sight through an accident. He never allowed his disability to stop him from trying to improve the world for others. By age 20, Louis Braille had perfected a new alphabet, enabling blind people to read.
Genius is 99% Perspiration Top ^
Wilma experienced disaster from birth, a premature baby, who caught pneumonia, then scarlet fever, and finally polio. The polio left one leg badly crippled, with her foot twisted inward. Until the age of eleven, Wilma hobbled around on metal braces. Then she asked her sister to keep watch while she practiced walking without the braces, afraid that her parents might discover what she was doing and she might be compelled to stop.

Wilma persisted until she eventually threw away her crutches for good. She progressed to running, and by the time she was sixteen she won a bronze medal in a relay race in the Melbourne Olympics. Four years later, in the Rome Olympics, Wilma Rudolph became the first woman in history to win three gold medals in track and field.

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