52 pages • 1 hour read
George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt, Sampson Davis, Sharon M. DraperWe Beat the Street: How A Friendship Pact Led to Success
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | YA | Published in 2005A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 19-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 19 Summary: “For the First Time Since High School, The Three of Us Won’t Be Together”
When Sampson and Rameck get into Access Med, a program that transitions them from pre-med students at Seton Hall to medical students at Rutgers and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, they know they are parting ways with George, who is headed to the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark. Though all three are exemplary students and well prepared for the challenges ahead academically, Sampson begins to have some doubts, which he expresses to George and Rameck. Fear of being outside of the classroom and in a hospital, treating patients and having to study for many more years, prompts Sampson to wonder if he made the right choice. The friends talk George through his doubts over the phone and on weekends, as George makes the transition to dental school. To please one professor, he has to learn how to tie a tie, so he can come properly dressed for each class. George also realizes that he has changed a great deal when he is back in his own neighborhood and puts casual faith into a passenger-by, who mugs him. George sees how much his view of the world has changed while living on a safe and nurturing college campus.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Driving While Black”
One night, while driving home from an evening out watching a boxing match with a friend, Rameck is pulled over by the police. Though he was obeying the traffic laws and speed limit, he and his friend, Dax, a law student, are ordered out of the car. They are frisked and then arrested when the cops find a tiny fishing knife, the size of a pencil, in the glove compartment. Rameck spends the night in jail and is worried that this mark on his record will stop him from becoming a doctor. He hires a lawyer who repeatedly fails to show up for the trial. Rameck begins to despair, thinking all his hard work has been for nothing; miraculously, the tiny fishing knife goes missing and all charges are dropped.
Chapter 21 Summary: “Sometimes You Gotta Fail in Order to Succeed”
Adjusting to medical school is difficult for Sampson, who feels out of place as one of the few students without any relative or close family friend already practicing medicine. He feels like an anomaly, and begins to again wonder if he is cut out for medicine. The support of his friends gets him through, as always, even when he fails the state board medical exam. The second time turns out better, after more studying and pep talks from Carla. Shortly thereafter, it is time for Sampson and Rameck to be matched with a residency. Rameck decides to specialize in internal medicine and gets his desired position at Robert Wood John. Sampson hopes to focus on emergency medicine but is unable to secure a spot. He is despondent and about ready to throw in the towel when an emergency medicine residency position suddenly opens at Newark Beth Israel Hospital. Rameck is thrilled to be able to focus on his desired specialization in the city he grew up in.
Chapter 22 Summary: “To Friends”
When graduation day finally arrives, the three friends get to walk across the stage and accept their diploma. It is the moment they have dreamed of for years, one that felt impossible at times, and one they managed to achieve because they stuck together and supported one another. With their families with them to celebrate, the three friends toast their accomplishments and the friendship that helped them make their dreams a reality.
Chapters 19-22 Analysis
It is challenging for the friends when they have to part ways, with George headed to dental school and Rameck and Sampson headed to medical school. Interacting with patients and fellow med students is intimidating, and Sampson struggles with feeling like an outsider. When he first fails his state board exam he is almost ready to give up but is encouraged to try again by his friends and Carla, and passes with flying colors on the second attempt. George needs to learn how to dress the part and tie a tie to please a dental school professor who enforces a dress code. Rameck has a run-in with the law that almost threatens his career trajectory but by a twist of fate he manages to overcome that adversity. The three friends graduate on the same day, toasting friendship, success and each other.
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