Reflecting on Accomplishments

     The accomplishments that I have done are vast, and I am very proud of them.  One of the major accomplishments that I have done was my Eagle Project.  For my project I decided to work with The Hub of Detroit which is a non-profit bicycle organization.  I went down and spoke with one of the workers there and he gave me ideas for a good community service project.  The project was repairing the parking lot and cleaning up around the outside of the building.  I decided to do this because it will make the building more appealing and attract more attention. In the end, I hope it will attract more attention to The Hub of Detroit and make it a more successful organization       
     Another accomplishment that I am proud of was being able to recover from an ACL injury, and not letting the pain slow me down from achieving my dream.  When it comes to my dreams, I will stop at nothing to make them come true.  No matter how troubling the obstacle is, I will always tackle it head-on.      
      My major accomplishments in the end, consist mainly of community service.  I like doing community service because it gives me the chance to volunteer at soup kitchens and homeless shelters, and give back to the people who don't have much.  One of the driving forces that makes me do these sort of things is my religion.  "What you do to the least of my brothers and sisters is what you do on to me".  This was quoted from the bible, and this phrase will always stick in my mind.  Another factor that compels me to do good is the fact that after I help out someone in need, I always feel a sense warmth and appreciation, and there is no greater feeling than that.      

 

The Last Lecture Reflection

      In Randy Pausch's speech named The Last Lecture, the themes and advice that are given are to stunning for words.  His main themes consist of fulfilling your dreams, and if you do everything in your power to make your dreams happen, they will come true.  On top of those things, he is 100% right about the two types of people in this world, you can either be a Tigger, or an Eeyore.  Tiggers live life to the fullest and work at achieving their dreams no matter how tough an obstacle may be, while Eeyores are negative and basically are the people who say that dreams are impossible.  As long as the right thing is done, good things will result from it.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH-HCupTOQI

Reflection on my journey

     In my journey throughout high school, I have come to the realization that chasing dreams and pursing what makes my happy is supposed to be simple, but it is the exact opposite.  It seems every time I try chasing my dream of improving myself in soccer, I can never find the time to do so.  I am always surrounded in other commitments such as school, work, and vacations.  These things really take up most of my time and effort throughout the year.  Even in the summer I have only a few weeks to practice.  This may seem like a lot of time, but in reality, it isn't.  It takes 2-3 times per week of playing time to get better, and within those 2-3 times, the sessions need to last around 2 hours to ensure a proper workout.  But after doing this assignment and reading/watching all these inspiring works about chasing my dream, I have come to realize that the problem has nothing to do with my other commitments, it has to do with me not making enough time to pursue my dream.  I sleep around 10 hours a night, if I were to cut 2 hours out to train, I would still get enough sleep and have enough time to train.  Sometimes in order to make dreams happen, sacrifices must be made in order to achieve a goal.  

     For my life in the future, I have decided that it is worth it to make sacrifices in order to pursue my happiness.  Wherever or whatever my dreams are, they should never be taken for granted because life is too short to not live your dreams.  When we reach the hardest point of our journey to achieve our dream, that is when we are the closest, and that is when most people give up.  The main thing to take away from this reflection is to never give up.  It is always good to keep the reward in mind when trying to reach your dream so there is motivation to keep going.  

     There is one video that really inspires me to chase my dream, it is the 2013 RedBull commercial, and the one part that really stands out is when Felix Baumgartner says, "The only limit, is the one you set yourself".   http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Ti2Lm4hb2ZY

     There are many more RedBull commercials like the one shown, but this one is by far the best.  RedBull has been helping people with extreme sports related dreams, and there are many more companies like them helping, and inspiring people to make their dreams happen.  When your support alone isn't enough, just look at all the iconic figures who did the thing you said couldn't be done because they were "impossible".  The people who did the things deemed "impossible" prove that anything can be done, and the main thing holding us back from our dreams is ourselves.

Books and Movies similar to the Alchemist

     The Alchemist can be compared to the movie The Sandlot.  In this movie, there is a boy nicknamed "Smalls," he struggles fitting into his new community and finding friends to hang out with.  His dream is to find friends and develop the basic skills of playing baseball.  Later a boy named Benny feels sorry for him, and becomes his first real friend.  Benny teaches him how to play baseball and introduces him to his close-knit baseball crew, they play in a sandlot that is pretty worn down but it is almost the boy's second home.  Smalls fits in with them after a few rough days of criticism and failed attempts to pick up the game of baseball.  In the end, he becomes one of then best players and ends up with a second family.  For all these boys, baseball was life.  The connection that can be seen is that Benny acted as the "King" in the Alchemist, not only did he help guide "Smalls" into the community, but he also helped him achieve his dream of becoming a good baseball player.  The "King" guided Santiago to his dream. "Smalls" and Santiago are alike because they were the main characters trying to achieve their dreams.  The Sandlot was a truly inspiring movie and I would recommend it to anyone who liked the Alchemist.

     Next, a book that can be related to the Alchemist would be the Eat, Pray, Love.  In this book, a woman named Elizabeth Gilbert feels unhappy in her marriage, and an ugly divorce takes place.  She feels the need to be free and start a new experience.  Like Santiago, she doesn't take many possessions with her when she takes a road trip to discover herself.  Her road trip consisted of going to Italy, India, then Indonesia.  Along the way she experiences the pleasures of life through food in Italy, praying in India, and in the end she finds her true love in Indonesia.  This book shows how this woman took the courage to leave behind something she was familiar with and completely embracing a new experience to find happiness and peace.  Santiago did the same, he was comfortable with his flock, but he didn't seem fully satisfied, he felt like he needed more adventure and that's exactly what he did.  

     Through these examples, it can be seen that no matter how big or small the obstacles people are faced with, it is possible to achieve ones dream as long as they are willing and strong.  The Sandlot and Eat, Pray, Love are astounding.  These books/movies really do have the potential to inspire as well as teach about the beauty of chasing a dream, and the rewards from it.

Reflection on the Alchemist

     

In the Alchemist, I found that I could easily relate to Santiago's life journey, and the troubles he faced along the way as well.  I say this because in the book, Santiago dreams about finding a treasure, and after several omens convince him, he decides to seek out this treasure.  The relation there is that I have always dreamt of playing for a well-established, high-ranking soccer team.  After receiving calls to attend some of the Force Football Club's practices (which were my omens), I decided to give it a shot and fulfill my dream.  It wasn't long before I was competing with some of the best player in Michigan, at first I struggled keeping up with the intense pace of the game (one of my obstacles encountered), but after some focus and unrelenting effort, I found myself with a spot on the team and a chance to compete in the Michigan State Premier Soccer League.  I thought all my problems were in my past, but after an unfortunate incident at practice, I managed to throw all my hard work away by re-spraining my ACL.  I thought that that was the end of my soccer career, all the hard work and strict dedication was for nothing.  My heart was in shambles at first from the bad news.  But there was this fire inside me that told me to push myself and beat this unfortunate setback.  After a month in rehabilitation, I was able to strengthen the muscles surrounding my feeble knee, and this turned the tables for me.  My injury can relate to Santiago's hardship in the port of Tarifa because Santiago was so close to reaching his destination with the money he made selling his flock (he was a Shepard before selling how flock), but a thief tricked him into giving him his money in order to keep it safe from thieves in the port city.  This unfortunate setback put Santiago into a position of putting his dream on hold to acquire the funds he needed to travel.  This is how Santiago and I are similar, and this story to this day inspires me to never give up on my dreams.  A quote that can relate to both Santiago and I was written by Greg Anderson, the quote goes,"Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it".  The interpretation that can be taken away from that quote would be to enjoy the journey of life, and don't obsess over the end, life is about enjoying the ride and learning from the experiences along the way.