Dr. Shalom Saada Saar — an assistant professor at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine — got misdiagnosed as mentally disabled when he was young. He felt like he never belonged in any room he walked into, and the psychologists that followed him were a constant reminder of that.
“I was timid, I was shy. I wouldn’t respond to the questions,” Saar said. “Because of their misdiagnosis, they said that this kid didn’t belong in normal school so they pulled me out and they put me in an institution.”
Saar graduated from Harvard two decades later. Last year, he published his memoir, “Out of The Cuckoo’s Nest” to show others how he pushed past the labels people put on him.
“Out of The Cuckoo’s Nest” talks about how his childhood was taken from him. It follows his battles against his insecurities and how he managed to overcome them.
Saar shares how he managed to prove to everyone and to himself that they were wrong about who he was.
“[The memoir] talks about how challenging life can be at times, how difficult it can be for us, and how to overpower obstacles through resilience and positive thinking,” Saar said.
Being misdiagnosed followed him for a lot of time in his life, yet it was a great motivator because he had something to prove. It took him a long time to finally feel secure in terms of who he was and helped make him a better teacher.
“The best gift you can give to people, to students, is the gift of time,” Saar said.
His memoir is not only a message for people who want to overcome their labels, but also a message for professors and peers to accept students as they are.
Saar wants to tell students that it is okay to be scared and uncertain at this point in their life. Taking time to reflect and understand who you are brings the change you want to see in your life.
“Take your time to reflect. Reflection creates awakening, awakening creates learning, and learning creates change,” he said.
Saar’s leadership experience in different companies and institutions like Harvard, MIT and Johnson & Johnson helped him understand that people need room to grow to become the best version of themselves.
“If I create a culture of fear, the students will be forced to learn because of fear,” Saar said. “But if I create a culture of openness and the desire to learn, then I’m really acting as a leader.”