Math Tutorial

Billw@projectAcademy.org

CAN YOU NAME….

1. …a famous person who was defeated seven times while running for political office?

2. …a cartoonist who was told by the editor of the Kansas City newspaper, “It’s easy to see from these sketches that you have no talent.”

3. …an author whose first children’s book was rejected by 23 different publishers?

4. …a famous singer who was fired after his first performance at the Grand Ole Opry?

5. …a famous actress who dropped out of high school and held a variety of odd jobs, including doing the hair and make-up for corpses, before finally succeeding in show business?

6. …a famous author who lived on welfare for years in an apartment infested with mice?

7. …a famous athlete who was cut from the varsity basketball team his sophomore year in high school?

8. …an inventor who was thrown out of school in the early grades because his teachers thought he couldn’t learn?  

9. …a famous Harvard University drop out?

10. …an inventor of a fried chicken recipe that was rejected by more than 1000 restaurant owners?

ANSWERS: 1. Abraham Lincoln was defeated in eight different elections. Yet he persisted and succeeded in becoming the 16th, and one of the most respected, presidents of the United States.

 2. Walt Disney was told he had no talent and fired from a newspaper job. He wound up doing volunteer work for a church in an old run down garage. One day he decided to sketch one of the many mice that were running through the garage. This mouse became the famous “Mickey Mouse.”

3. Twenty-three different publishers rejected Dr. Seuss’s first book, while the 24th accepted and sold 6 million copies of it.

4. Elvis Presley was fired after his first performance at the Grand Ole Opry. The manager told him, “You ain’t going nowhere, son. You ought to go back to driving a truck.” He went on to become one of the most famous American singers of the 20th century.

5. Whoopi Goldberg dropped out of high school, was on welfare and worked as a bricklayer, bank teller, and licensed cosmetician. After graduating from Beauty College, she took a job at a mortuary fixing the hair of and applying make-up to the corpses.

 6. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, lived on welfare for years, in an apartment infested with mice, and was rejected by 12 publishers before going on to fame and fortune.

7. Michael Jordan was the athlete who was cut from the varsity basketball team in his sophomore year of high school. Angry and embarrassed, he began to get up early each morning to practice with the junior varsity coach. Eventually he not only made the varsity team, but also became one of the most popular athletes in the world. Michael Jordan is quoted as Page 5 of 5 saying, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

 8. Thomas Edison was the inventor who was kicked out of school. Following this, he was homeschooled by his mother. It took him over 700 tries before he got the filament right for the light bulb. Edison is quoted as saying: “I have not failed seven hundred times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those seven hundred ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”

9. Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard University. He went onto become the youngest millionaire (at the age of 26) and is the CEO of Facebook.

10. Harland David Sanders (better known as Colonel Sanders) had his fried chicken recipe rejected by more than 1,000 restaurant owners before it was accepted by one. Today, people still eat it at KFCs across the world.

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