Legend Of The Alchemist

Personal legends are aspects of life that everyone is naturally born with. A majority of the population know exactly what their personal legend is, and a few aren’t aware of what it even means. I’m one of those people.
When I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and found out how little time it took Santiago to realize that traveling to Egypt for treasure was his destiny, it attracted my attention. Santiago gained consciousness of his own being and was purposeful throughout his whole journey. That is a complex conception that I have not yet been able to comprehend. I was surrounded by people that recognized what their calling was, nevertheless, understood how life worked. I questioned everything.
I never considered myself to be a leader, but

rather a follower. Inadequate confidence resulted in always being the person behind every situation. Being a ‘gregarious extrovert’ was something that I wasn’t completely fond of. However, it got to a point where the concept of always keeping things to myself was aggravating.
I began to gradually get out of my comfort zone right when I received an email from my 9th grade english teacher.

She recommended me to go to a camp at UCLA during the summer called My Name My Story that was meant for social entrepreneurs. That email truly took me by surprise. I lingered in my room and stared at the email for quite a while and wondered why she chose me. UCLA had only given her three scholarships for students to enroll in the program and I sat there wondering if she had made the right choice. Eventually, I responded to her email after doing extensive research on the camp and thought that her email was an indication to finally perceive my future. She asked me to stay after class and talk about how elated she was that I said yes to the offer. I asked her why she chose and she responded with “I believe that you make a great leader even though you don’t always show it. I want you to take action and speak up for what you believe in.” I never knew that a teacher would have so much faith in me, and I didn’t want to let her

down.
A few weeks passed and the day came. The day where I had to go spend a week at UCLA. There were about 20 students there, all from different schools and grades. We introduced ourselves and everyone instantly became friends. I know that I should have been comfortable around them, but as I sat there I could just feel everyone’s eyes on me and my heart was beating so fast. Meditative exercises that I practice at home really helped with that constant struggle at UCLA.
There was a motivational speaker each day and their stories seemed to captivate me to do better things, but it never lead me to what I actually wanted to do. The students knew what they wanted already and had their own non-profit organizations. As to where I am barely figuring out how life works. However, there was one motivational speaker who struggled with the same complication. He said that he didn’t find out what his passion was until his late 20s. Hopefully, it won’t take me that long, but counselors and teachers are overwhelming me with my future career intentions.
The last day of the camp was the day where we had to share our views on what inspires to us to do the things we do.

Previously mentioned, the students were set and had it altogether, but I did not. I was the last one to share and I had to improvise because I did not know what to say. I stood in the middle of the room and stared at everyone then began to speak of how bewildered I was when I first walked in the first day and how much they have changed me as a person. Somehow, my speech was empowering because all I heard were sniffles and a “wow” coming from a student that I never expected was going to care. He came up to me at the end of the day and told me that he was so delighted that he inspired someone, and it’s true. He

did.
Perhaps receiving the email and going to this awe-inspiring camp were indications of how I’m going to perceive my future. I still have time to discover new things. My personal legend has yet to end, and I’m willing to challenge myself to know what I genuinely desire.