Santiago Ramόn y Cajal was a difficult child. He was born in 1852 in Spain. He never lasted long in any school he attended. He was disruptive and would not accept the behavioral practices in an authoritarian school environment.
At home, he was no better. He was sent to prison for blowing up his neighbor’s gate with a cannon he made. Santiago was very smart and athletic, but these were not valued by his father. He wanted Santiago to develop a trade and apprenticed him to a shoemaker and later a barber. Santiago rejected both. He wanted to become an artist.
Everything changed when his father was a teacher of anatomy, asked Santiago to go with him to find human remains to study. Santiago experienced a crucible moment in his life when he began to draw anatomical sketches of the bones. He discovered a curiosity for the human body. With his father’s encouragement, he completed medical school.
When he was 35, he became fascinated with the central nervous system. He began to document his studies with drawings. Eventually, he was able to draw most regions of the brain. Those drawings are still used today.
His work on the brain was pioneering. He is generally credited with being the world’s first neuroscientist. He is especially noted for developing an understanding how learning develops within the brain. He was the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1906.
Just imagine the talent that would have been wasted if Santiago had become a shoemaker or barber. That unfortunately is what is happening to many talented youths around the world. They have a difficult start in life and never experience a crucible moment that enables them to discover their life’s purpose. Crucible moments are those triggers in our life experience that help us discover a talent we did not know existed. For many that trigger is never pulled due to a number of factors. Discovering and nurturing talent remains an unmet need in our society.
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“All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talent.” – John F. Kennedy