A college professor had his sociology class go into the Baltimore
slums to get case histories of 200 young boys. They were asked to write
an evaluation of each boy's future. In every case the students wrote,
"He hasn't got a chance." Twenty-five years later another sociology
professor came across the earlier study. He had his students follow up
on the project to see what had happened to these boys. With the exception
of 20 boys who had moved away or died, the students learned that 176 of
the remaining 180 had achieved more than ordinary success as lawyers,
doctors and businessmen.
The professor was astounded and decided to pursue the matter
further.
Fortunately, all the men were in the area and he was able to ask each
one,
"How do you account for your success?" In each case the reply came with
feeling, "There was a teacher."
The teacher was still alive, so he sought her out and asked the old
but still alert lady what magic formula she had used to pull these boys
out of the slums into successful achievement.
The teacher's eyes sparkled and her lips broke into a gentle smile.
"It's really very simple," she said. "I loved those boys."
