High School Dropout to Harvard: My Life with Dyslexia

De: John D Rodrigues

Narrado por: Morgan Ingraham

School was a struggle for John D. Rodrigues. He knew he was smart, but teachers and classmates didn’t believe him. All they saw was a kid who wore freakish orthopedic shoes, couldn’t sit still in class, and struggled miserably with reading. At age 16, John had had enough. He dropped out, certain he’d never return to school.

Thanks to a chance encounter, John discovered ice sculpting. Here, finally, was something the young man was good at, and he took to it passionately. His talent for releasing beauty from massive blocks of ice led to jobs working in famous hotels and on cruise ships. He was happy, but his failure to graduate tugged at the back of his mind.

The failure, as it turned out, wasn’t John’s. It was the fault of the school system that had never diagnosed his dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Armed with strategies that played to his strengths, John passed remedial classes in community college and then went on to study at Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley.

In High School Dropout to Harvard, John candidly recounts his inspirational journey and dispenses hard-won, practical advice for others who may be facing similar challenges.

©2012 John Rodrigues (P)2018 John Rodrigues

Dyslexic chef finds destiny in powerful memoir

Imagine attending school in your orthopedic shoes, not being able to read, write, and spell properly, and always being the butt of children’s taunts. Imagine succumbing to the lowest opinions of your critics, forcing yourself to graduate high school, staying close to home, picking the safest job, and never finding your true love – all because you listened to the nasty things that the crowds had to say about you. That could have been the fate for the chef-turned-author, John Rodrigues.

Somehow the velvety voice of the narrator, with its soothing cadence, eased the disquiet of this listener, while learning about John’s experiences as a dyslexic exposed to the wait-to-fail model of education. By the same token, the positive aspects of this disability, such as gifts for visual thinking, story-telling, and creativity shine through in this patchwork quilt of experiences that doubles as his memoir.

From a childhood of struggling with words like caterpillar (‘capapillar’ according to his pronunciation) and being surrounded by Louisiana gumbo smells emanating from his Grandma’s kitchen, we are taken on a delicious joy ride through the youth of someone who refused to quit – earning recognition as a chef and ice sculptor par excellence. He also confronted his ‘learning Everest’ by attending Harvard. Along the way, he married his true love and welcomed a baby daughter.

This story should inspire everyone run down by outer voices to listen to their inner voices and go find their respective destinies.

An inspiring story

An inspiring story full of obstacles that are overcome, self-discovery, and acceptance. John D. Rodrigues wonderfully describes his journey in life and provides so many details that you can picture his world with ease. Rodrigues struggles with school in his younger years; he suffers from dyslexia and ADHD- although this is unknown to him for many many years. The relationship between Rodrigues and his father is a painful one; his father constantly puts him down and makes fun of his shortcomings. I really feel for Rodrigues younger self; instead of having a support system to help bring him up he was surrounded by naysayers. There are two people that Rodrigues mentions that I believe helped give him the confidence and the belief that he could accomplish anything; his grandfather and Chef Collins. Before these two I don’t think Rodrigues had ever been praised- his grandfather taught him to carve wood and later Chef Collins helped Rodrigues refined those skills to become an award-winning ice sculptor.
Morgan Ingraham narrates this story and he does a great job! With a soothing clear voice, he does the proper inflections to keep the true heart of the story and I didn't have the trouble of tuning him out - which has happened to me with other audiobooks! Ingraham kept my attention throughout the book and I definitely recommend this to everyone.

An Inspiring Book on Overcoming Dyslexia

John D Rodrigues has written a wonderful book here. I didn't consider myself well-informed when it came to Dyslexia, and I think I learned quite a bit form reading this. Harvard is an exceptionally difficult college to attend; I absolutely commend the author on their hard work and persistence. Never give up on your dreams!

It's very moving to hear Rodrigues mull over some of the important points in his life, right from childhood, that made him who he is today. No matter the obstacles or the people who told him he couldn't achieve his dreams, the author succeeded in defeating these impediments diligently. The author has a very interesting history. I was surprised to see hear of how many places he has been to and the jobs he has worked.

The orator, Morgan Ingraham, is quite good. His intonations are exactly on point to emphasize the sentence. I think this narrator was wonderfully chosen for this book.

High School Dropout to Harvard: My Life with Dyslexia is a heartwarming and informative novel, but it is more than that. It is the fascinating and motivating story of a man's journey through life, and how he achieved things he only dreamed were possible. Always reach for the stars. Enjoy!

Excellent Book about Perseverance

High School Dropout: My Life with Dyslexia by John D. Rodriguez.  

This is a fascinating and inspiring memoir of a student's struggle to overcome the odds and achieve his goals. He is not even diagnosed with Dyslexia until he enrolls in college and relates stories of his early obstacles at school and home as an unrecognized learning disability. 

Most to be admired is the author's positive attitude throughout.  When it seems most would have given up he chose to persevere with his dreams including enrolling at Harvard University. He takes what is considered a disability and turns it into his strength. He has analyzed his way of thinking and used it to his advantage to work smarter not harder.

This is an inspiring read giving a look at how a visual thinker views the world.

What an amazing story!

The Author shares his story of growing up with dyslexia, and issues he had in school from it. From being accused of ill behavior over something that he couldn't help, to people looking down on him for poor grades instead of helping him - he overcame it all by walking away from it!

I spent my night listening to the story of how a simple after school culinary class grew into working with renowned chefs and becoming an ice sculptor on cruise ships! Wow! What an exciting time that must have been, especially when one of their co workers decided to take photos in a no-photo area, which resulted in them getting chased down by locals and almost thrown in a foreign country's jail!!

But what makes this story so close to me personally is going back to college. I'm almost 40 and back in a community college, so it really makes me feel like the sky is the limit so long as I pace myself and understand how to move forward. His book really is inspiring, and reminds me of another person who said "If you feel something, believe in yourself and just go for it!" Seems that's the only way to live sometimes!

Thank you for sharing your amazing story, and showing that us underdogs can rise to the top too!! The entire last chapter and afterword just me smiling the entire time. One thing is for sure, you got some great stories for your daughter!