2012 Presenters

Edson Monteiro

Edson Monteiro graduated from New Bedford High School in 2004 and attended college at Suffolk University and University of Massachusetts at Boston. He was a varsity soccer player until being diagnosed with leukemia in 2007; as a result of the illness he was forced to drop out of school and quit working. Dealing with the financial struggles of medical expenses, he made some wrong decisions, and in 2009 was charged with a criminal offense. After treatment he returned to school and graduated college in 2010 with a bachelor of science degree. After graduation, he pled guilty to charges and was sentenced. While serving time, he read various books. Within a few weeks of being incarcerated, he started to look for books that would help him excel in life and expand his knowledge base, beyond works of fiction. The books he wanted were generally not available in the prison library, but fortunately family members mailed books to him. He started reading books about managing finances, business, buying stocks, and religion. Since his release Monteiro has started his own IT company, and he continues to read.