History has shown that some people manage to retain their ideas, their self-confidence and to realize their dreams. Often, when these people and their work are mentioned, stereotypic thinking may still come into sight which is why it's almost unthinkable that they were ever labeled as bad - or were not that successful - in school. Following are some of the people whose performance, beyond doubt, really is different:

• Beethoven, composer
• Thomas Edison, inventor
• Albert Einstein, physicist
• Isaac Newton, physicist
• Leonardo da Vinci, artist
• David Neeleman, founder of Jet Blue, an airline company
• Paul Orfalea, founder of Kinko company