David Norman is living proof that anyone can change their life around for the better. Norman, a former Harlem drug dealer who spent years in prison after being
arrested several times, just received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Columbia University. At the age of 67, Norman graduated as the oldest member of his class.
Although Norman is on cloud nine right now, his road to success surely wasn’t an easy one. He began drinking at the age of 11 and using heroin before his 15th birthday. He turned to the Harlem streets to sell dope after dropping out of high school. He began getting arrested for drug and robbery charges. In 1967, he was charged with manslaughter after fatally stabbing a man in a street fight. While serving his time in prison, he began to realize how his behaviors leading up to that point, did nothing positive for his life. He began reading books, learning Hebrew, and helped run a program that taught inmates skills they needed to return back to society.
He tells the new york daily news:
I had a moment of clarity in which I was able to recognize everything I had done at that point was fairly counter-productive and I needed to engage in some new activities and some new behaviors.
I did a little inventory of myself to try to unearth what it was that led me astray in the beginning and what I need to do when I get home not to fall victim to this activity again.
After being released from prison, he got a job as an outreach worker at Mount Vernon Hospital. That work led him a job at Columbia University, where he helped track subjects in a health program.
Columbia University accepted him into their program 10 years ago. He worked full-time at the university and took classes each semester to now have the degree that he has today. Norman is planning to write a book detailing how he turned his life around for the better. Congratulations to Norman on all of his accomplishments.
Photo Credit: New York Daily News
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