The School of Athens

“The School of Athens” is one of the most famous painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. Through his art, Raphael captures the main character of society during this period. Renaissance was a time of great learning and acquiring knowledge. People were excited about expanding their mind and thoughts which led to great innovations and inventions in areas such as philosophy, literature, art, science, astronomy and architecture. This painting depicts many famous thinkers and philosophers of the Renaissance whose great works contributed to the society. The painting also captures how they learn through discussion and enquiry. The central figures in the middle are the great philosophers, Aristotle and Plato who are seen talking to each other. The other people are in gathered in groups who seen together in deep intellectual discussions, showing their ideas and writings. I feel that the painting reflects the beliefs and values of the Renaissance society it was created in.

If I were part of this painting “The School of Athens”, I would be Alexander the Great. The Macedonian King is seen in this painting standing on the left in between Socrates, Xenophon and Alcibiades. They appear to be listening to an explanation by Socrates. Alexander the Great was made King at a young age of nineteen years old. He was one of the greatest military geniuses and warrior in history. He conquered many countries from Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, the Persian Empire, Asia and India, and created the largest empire in ancient history. Alexander was trained in military skills from the best experts in his father’s army and he was taught science, medicine and philosophy by the great philosopher, Aristotle. He achieved what was thought impossible during his time. Alexander the Great had a high ambition to create a universal world under one leader. His bravery and courage, combined with intelligence, strong leadership skills and determination enabled him to create his empire. Like Alexander, my ambition is to graduate from the top University in the world, Harvard. I aspire to be a successful businessman with Warren Buffet and Bill Gates as my role models, and become a leader in the business world. It may seem like an impossible task today and I have many challenges ahead of me. I feel my character traits are similar to Alexander; I am determined, courageous and have high ambition. As Alexander can conquer and create the largest empire of his time, with the same determination, courage and hard work I will achieve my ambition. I know that I can climb every mountain I face.

A True Renaissance Man

Renaissance means ‘rebirth’ and it refers to the rebirth of interests and ideas about the world. There was a new attitude among artists, doctors and scientists; people during that time wanted to find out more about the world by studying it. People learned by making careful and detailed observations and conducted scientific experiments about anything that interested them. Art and architecture changed as artists developed new interests and skills. Medicine changed as people improved their understanding of the world. Scientific knowledge changed as people conducted more experiments and observations.

Leonardo da Vinci like people of the Renaissance was interested in learning about the world around him and to understand as much as he could. He had an immense curiosity to learn about everything including art, architecture, science, military and astronomy. Throughout his life he produced great works of art, such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He also designed military equipment for Milan and Florence, constructed bridges and canals, and designed and built an enormous dome for Milan Cathedral. He did many experiments in mathematics and geometry, and made drawings in his notebooks of flying machines, finely observed human anatomy, submarine and other war machines. He observed birds in flight which inspired him to design a flying machine. He made drawings of the human anatomy, studied the weather, made mirrors and telescopes to study the stars, design water pumps and whatever interested him. He learned by carefully observing things around him and making precise documents of his observations. During his time, he was renowned as an inventor, scientist, engineer, architect, painter, sculptor, musician, mathematician, anatomist, astronomer, geologist, biologist, and philosopher. Leonardo’s works reveal his great interest to learn about almost everything in the world which characterizes him as a true Renaissance man.

It doesn't matter whether they're white, black, brown or green.

"I don't see myself as the Great Black Hope. I'm just a golfer who happens to be black and Asian. It doesn't matter whether they're white, black, brown or green. All that matters is I touch kids the way I can through clinics and they benefit from them." Tiger Woods,1996 Newsweek article.

Tiger Woods is renowned today as the world’s greatest golfer, and is ranked number one in the world. He started golf at a tender age of 3 years old and has since won major golf championships, including the Grand Slam, and created numerous golf competition records. Tiger is well-known throughout the world and across all races and age groups. He is an idol and hero for many people, both golfers and non-golfers, inspiring them take an interest in golf.
In 1997, Tiger won one major tournament, the Masters, and become the first African American to win this tournament. For many years, golf was mainly a sport for white men. Tiger’s success opened up the game of golf to minorities such as African Americans, Koreans and Japanese, many of whom picked up golf because of him. Woods considers himself ‘Cablinasian’’- Caucasian, black, Indian, and Asian—because of his racially diverse background; his father was African American, Chinese and Native American and his mother Thai, Chinese and Dutch.
Growing up, Tiger had to face many prejudices because of his race. On his first day in kindergarten some older boys threw rocks at him and called him ‘nigger’ and ‘monkey’. He was prevented from playing at some golf clubs because he was black and was also not allowed to join competitions because of his race. His parents were not wealthy so they did not belong to any prestigious golf clubs. Tiger raised above all these obstacles to play the game he loves and to become the champion he is today. Tiger believes that being a good role model to others is even more important than his golf. He uses golf to influence kids in a positive way. He set up the Tiger Woods Foundation in order to promote both golf and learning for less fortunate children. His programs provide learning facilities that promote character development and values through the game of golf. Tiger’s foundation isn’t just interested in helping kids with their golf game. It’s to help kids become better people.
Tiger has the ability to help people across the world. He is truly a multi-racial person. He’s a hero, an incredible golfer and a generous man. Tiger Woods influence transcends through time and speaks through all cultures about the importance of rising above your challenges and to chase your dreams, and not to forget to help the less privileged when you can. Many people across the world, men and women, children and adults, from diverse nationalities, race and backgrounds, have started playing golf because of Tiger.
Sports star Michael Jordan says, “Tiger... will succeed and expand across all racial barriers.... I admire him... for establishing a new plateau, a higher ground, if you will.... I really do believe he was put here for a bigger reason than just to play golf. I don't think that he is a god, but I do believe that he was sent by One."

Tiger Woods

Biography

Eldrick (Tiger) Woods, now 33 years of age, has had an unprecedented career since becoming a professional golfer in the late summer of 1996. He has won 92 tournaments, 71 of those on the PGA Tour, including the 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005 Masters Tournaments, 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007 PGA Championships, 2000, 2002, and 2008 U.S. Open Championships, and 2000, 2005 and 2006 Open Championships. With his second Masters victory in 2001, Tiger became the first ever to hold all four professional major championships at the same time. He is the career victories leader among active players on the PGA Tour, and is the career money list leader.

Woods won 11 tournaments in 2000, nine on the PGA Tour, one on the PGA European Tour and the PGA Grand Slam. In addition, Woods and David Duval won the World Cup team title for the United States. He earned $9,188,321 on the PGA Tour ($11,034,530 worldwide) and broke the PGA Tour record of $6,616,585 which he set in 1999.

Tiger increased his record total on the PGA Tour career money list to $76,579,376 through 2007, and had won $94,038,162 worldwide.

His nine PGA Tour victories in 2000 equaled the fifth highest total ever and were the most since Sam Snead won 11 in 1950. He had eight PGA Tour victories in 1999, and 11 victories worldwide while winning $7,681,625.

In 2000, Woods matched the record of Ben Hogan in 1953 in winning three professional major championships in the same year. Hogan won the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship. Tiger also became the first since Denny Shute in 1936-37 to win the PGA Championship in consecutive years.

In winning The Open Championship, Woods became the youngest to complete the career Grand Slam of professional major championships and only the fifth ever to do so, following Hogan, Gene Sarazen, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus. Tiger also was the youngest Masters champion ever, at the age of 21 years, three months and 14 days, and was the first major championship winner of African or Asian heritage.

Woods holds or shares the record for the low score in relation to par in each of the four major championships. His records are 270 (18-under par) in the Masters, 272 (12-under par) in the U.S. Open, 269 (19-under par) in The Open Championship, and he shares the record of 270 (18-under par) with Bob May in the 2000 PGA Championship, which Tiger won by one stroke in a three-hole playoff.

The U.S. Open and Masters victories came by record margins, 15 strokes and 12 strokes respectively, and the U.S. Open triumph swept aside the 13-stroke major championship standard which had stood for 138 years, established by Old Tom Morris in the 1862 Open Championship. The record margin for the U.S. Open had been 11 strokes by Willie Smith in 1899. In the Masters, Woods broke the record margin of nine strokes set by Nicklaus in 1965. Tiger won The Open Championship by eight strokes, the largest margin since J. H. Taylor in 1913.

Finding Assurance in Trusting Him: Joseph's Story  

In the Alchemist, Coelho revealed many thoughts regarding the importance of ‘faith’ in one’s journey to achieve your destiny. Faith is to believe in a supernatural power like God that controls and guides you to your destiny. In the Alchemist this is known as the ‘Soul of the World’. Santiago reached out to the ‘Soul of the World’ communicating through his heart by the ‘universal language’ of love. His faith in God allowed him to face the desert, wind and the sun and finally he prayed to God, which led him to successfully change to wind. “A current of love rushed from his heart and the boy began to pray. It was a prayer that he had never said before, because it was a prayer without words or pleas.”(144) Religion and God speaks to all cultures and across time periods from the time of creation of the universe to this day. Like Santiago we need to pray to God and to have faith that God will guide us to achieve our destiny. Faith in God will surely lead us to success.

Faith

"Faith appears to glows from what your soul believes.

Draped gently around you.

It only matters to God."

‘Draped’ like the monks just simply draped in cloth all around.

Our faith and believe doesn’t matter to anyone else but only to God.

‘Glow’ means the ‘light of God’

They are draped around monks because monks are religious people with strong faith.

Faith that we have is between you and god only

Dare to Dream

“When I have been truly searching for my treasure, everyday has been luminous, because I’ve known that every hour was a part of the dream that I would find it. When I have been truly searching for my treasure, I’ve discovered things along the way that I never would have seen had I not had the courage to try things that seemed impossible for a shepherd to achieve.” (Coelho 125)
In The Alchemist, Santiago states that he is searching for his treasure and his journey has been ‘luminous’ or inspiring as he experienced many challenges and difficulties along the way, which taught him many things about the world. Santiago is a young Spanish man who pursues his destiny to obtain his treasure buried at the Pyramids of Egypt. His journey takes him from Andalusia, Spain through unknown lands across Africa. He experienced many challenges and difficulties along the way and met many people, some who helped him and others who tested him. Santiago with his ‘adventurous’ spirit, faced all challenges and obstacles with ‘courage’, soon learned to be ‘perceptive’ which helped him to eventually achieve his destiny.

Santiago has always had the adventurous spirit and this was the first step towards realizing his destiny. Ever since he was young Santiago wanted to travel around the world and hence, he decided to be a shepherd in order he could see different places and how their people lived. “Well, I’d like to see their land, and see how they live”, said his son. (9) After meeting with Melchizedek, Santiago resolves to embark on a journey to Egypt in search of his treasure. He travelled alone into a foreign land determined to pursue his destiny. “The boy told him then that he needed to get to the pyramids.” (35). After losing all his money to an Arab robber, Santiago worked in a crystal shop for nearly one year to earn money to continue his journey. Later having travelled towards his destiny, Santiago went on a journey with the Alchemist from the oasis and to the monastery in Egypt, and then all by himself to the pyramids. They had many adventurous experiences along the way where they were stopped by tribesmen twice and captured by a military tribe. “There is only one way to learn,” the alchemist answered. “It’s through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey. You need to learn only one thing more.” In overcoming these obstacles and challenges, Santiago learnt about communicating with his heart, the universal language and the Soul of the World. (120) “Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there.”(122) Santiago’s adventurous spirit was vital in helping him achieve his destiny and to face the dangerous challenges along during the journey he needed to be courageous.

Santiago had to be brave to fulfill his desire to travel; first as a shepherd he wandered around the Andalusian terrain with only his sheep and then, he gave up his sheep and left his family and a girl. He travelled to foreign lands in Africa to pursue his destiny in Egypt. ‘His heart told the boy what his strongest qualities were: his courage in having given up his sheep and in trying to live out his destiny, and his enthusiasm during the time he had worked at the crystal shop.’(123) At the oasis in Al-Fayoum, Santiago met the Alchemist for the first time, when the point of his sword grazed the boy’s forehead. The boy did not run away and was brave to face the alchemist. ‘It didn’t occur to the boy to flee. In his heart he felt a strange sense of joy: he was about to die in pursuit of his destiny.’(105) The Alchemist guided Santiago by riding with him towards the pyramids and by telling him to immerse himself in the desert to understand about nature and the world and to listen to his heart because it came from the Soul of the World. During their journey a military tribe who threatened to kill them unless Santiago showed that he could turn into wind and destroy the camp captured them. Santiago fought his fears and bravely faced the desert, the wind, and the sun by the Language of the World and finally prayed to the hand that wrote all. He reached to the Soul of the World and successfully turned himself into wind. ‘For generations thereafter, the Arabs recounted the legend of a boy who had turned himself into the wind almost destroying a military camp, in defiance of the most powerful chief in the desert.’ (145) His courage gave Santiago the strength to face all the obstacles he encountered along the way to achieving his destiny though he also needed to be perceptive to understand the signs and omens that emerged to guide him.

Melchizedek had told Santiago to learn to recognize and follow the omens and signs that God has left for him along his path to follow his destiny. During his journey, Santiago was perceptive in recognizing the favorable omens that helped him progress towards his dream. When he was working in the crystal shop, Santiago built a display case for the crystal shop to attract people to the shop because he perceived this would increase business. “I’d like to build a display case for the crystal,” the boy said to the merchant. “We could place it outside, and attract those people who pass at the bottom of the hill.”(49) He also started selling tea in shop after observing a man complain that he needed a drink after climbing up to hill to the crystal shop. “But we could sell tea in crystal glasses. The people will enjoy the tea and want to buy the glasses.”(54) One evening while wandering in the desert, Santiago saw two hawks in the desert and a mirage of the oasis being attacked; he perceived that what he saw was going to occur so he warned the chief of the tribes. ‘Once again, he perceived the many languages in the things about him: this time, the desert was safe, and it was the oasis that had become dangerous.’ (96) Finally when Santiago arrived at his destination, the Pyramids of Egypt, he began to search for his treasure. At the place where his tears had fallen on the sand, he saw a scarab beetle and perceived it as the omen and dug at that place for his treasure. ‘His hands were abraded and exhausted, but he listened to his heart. It told him to dig where his tears fell.’(153) Although he didn’t find his treasure there it led him through the robbers to his treasure chest. Above all, his perceptiveness helped him achieve his destiny.

Throughout Santiago’s journey in search of his treasure, he experienced many challenges and difficulties all of which he overcame. Santiago also discovered hidden mysteries about the world and found a deeper understanding about himself, which he would not have seen had he remained a shepherd. Santiago’s ‘adventurous’ spirit dared him to embark on his adventure to Africa and the Pyramids of Egypt, overcame obstacles and challenges with ‘courage’ and was assisted by his ‘perceptive’ ability to read the omens and signs that God had left for him. Everyone needs a dream or a goal in life to reach their destiny. People shouldn’t be afraid to realize their destiny in order to live their life to the fullest. Life if a journey filled with obstacles and challenges; these make life interesting.

Determined to reach my Dreams

Victory by Marcio Melo

I am naturally a determined person and I believe this will ensure that I participate in my destiny. When I decide to do something, I always give it my best. I use all my strengths and abilities, work hard, never give up and keep trying to improve. Along the way I faced many challenges and obstacles which I am always determined to overcome. In my thirteen years on this earth, I have learned to use my determined nature to achieve the best in all that I do. I dream of the day I can enter Harvard University to study Mathematics. In school lessons I endeavor to give my best effort so that I can get good grades because I know this is vital for Harvard. I study very hard preparing for my lessons, projects and tests. During tests and projects, I use my time wisely and always reread and double check my work. I never give up and strive to do better all the time. I am not ashamed to ask for help from my teachers and classmates. I know that I struggle with humanities but I am determined to succeed by putting more time and effort to learn, and searching out my teachers for assistance. When I started playing soccer, I was not really good because I didn’t have the skills or knowledge to play as a team. Determined to succeed I trained at school soccer, middle league and KLYS football club with professional coaches, three to four times a week. Up to today I have represented the school in soccer tournaments and I have played internationally with my soccer club which includes participating in the Gothia Cup in Sweden. When I first learnt to ski at six years old, I was extremely nervous because I didn’t know how to ski and I might tumble down the mountain. I practiced with ski instructors and after three years, picking myself up each time I fall. I am now able to maneuver the black slopes confidently. I am determined to learn important life skills and make it an enjoyable experience. I believe in myself and I know that when I am determined to do something and I work hard, I am participating in journey towards my destiny. Like Santiago in The Alchemist, who showed his determination to reach the pyramids because he never gave up even when faced with many obstacles along the way, my determination ensures I persevere towards my destiny.