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Thomas Alva Edison : Overcoming Life Obstacles

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Thomas Alva Edison: Overcoming Life Obstacles
Thomas Alva Edison was an unconventional genius that played a vital role in shaping the modern world with his inventions, but didn’t accomplish this role easily. Edison led an inquisitive life encompassing his disruptive adolescence, unconventional methods of success, and exceptional ability to endure failure. Although his inventions and ideologies exemplified him, Thomas Edison overcame tremendous obstacles throughout his lifetime before achieving his anticipated goals.
Alva, how his mother referred to him, was a skinny and odd-looking boy that described himself as “a bushel of wheat” (Conot 3). He would always find a way into the middle of conflict and habitually lived life by his own rules. …show more content…

Young Edison would allow his mind to wonder inattentively during class. His instructors grew very impatient with his overactive brain. His first teacher, Reverend Engle, was well known for his low tolerance of insubordination and high expectation for discipline. Because of the disciplinary environment enforced by Engle, Alva would frequently feel frightened during class (Conot 6). One day after school, Alva stood unnoticed observing a conversation between Engle and a fellow teacher. He overheard Engle calling him “addled” (Egan 11). Instantly frustrated, Alva ran away from the school, with no intention of returning, and eventually became a student at home where he would be educated by his mother (Conot 6). It was during this time his mother gave him a book called “R. G. Parker’s School of Natural Philosophy and it changed Tom’s life” (Egan 14). Even though the book slightly provided a temporary remedy for his seemingly chaotic mind, he continued to act mischievously throughout homeschool and into public school. Now in public school, it would frustrate Alva when he had to share a book with another student. He read very quickly and couldn’t find patience for other children when their reading capabilities were inferior to his. Although Alva read swiftly, his teachers focused more on his disruptive behavior. One time during class, Alva and a younger girl, used a baited hook to catch a chicken from the second story of the public school! (Conot 7). Young Edison continued

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