Words have the power to shape a life. We've all heard the lie, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." Entire lives are shaped by the words of a few. Fortunately, those same lives can be reshaped by the right words at the right time.

The following is an excerpt from a speech by Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland's 7th District representative, delivered at Howard University, for the 2000 Education Leadership Summit, December 4, 2000.

This morning, as I drove through the early-morning, South Baltimore traffic toward I–95 and Washington, I passed near the elementary school that I attended nearly 40 years ago. I spent most of my elementary school training as an unhappy member of what then was called the 3rd group—what we today call special education.

To this day, I remember the cold, incredulous, rejecting words of my 6th grade school counselor. "You want to be a lawyer? Who do you think you are?" When I think back to that time, I do something I have done every morning of my adult life. I thank God for the wonderful adults who gave me my head start in life: I thanked God for Mr. Hollis Posey, the sixth grade teacher who listened to my dreams, who believed in my potential as a human being, and who taught to my strengths, not my limitations. And I thanked God for my parents, who convinced me that I could become whatever I decided to be.

I made it out of the 3rd group. I graduated second in my class from Baltimore City College High School. I became a Phi Beta Kappa at Howard University. I became a lawyer at the University of Maryland. I was elected to public office and rose to the position of speaker pro tem of the Maryland House of Delegates, and today I serve the people of Baltimore as a member of the Congress of the United States of America.

I survived and succeeded because of positive parental involvement, and because of Mr. Hollis Posey's belief in me, because he taught to my strengths and helped me learn and achieve in my own way. We must believe in our children. We must give them the opportunity to develop their unique and diverse abilities.