'The School of Athens'

The Renaissance period was the time of knowledge and the arts. People were gaining, experimenting with and exploring new knowledge, the key element of the 'rebirth' after the Middle Ages and The School of Athens shows just that. To bring out the best of his time, Raphael decided to paint all of the greatest thinkers, Philosophers, Mathematicians and Scientists in one area, to emphasize the importance of knowledge. The focus of the painting that gives it away is in fact the focal point, an artistic technique developed and used in the Renaissance period. The focal point of the artwork is Plato with his apprentice Aristotle. Plato and Aristotle, next to being the main focus of the painting, divide it into two separate sections; Mathematics and Science, two of the most experimented and researched subjects the Renaissance built on. 'The School of Athens' is a reminder of the base the Renaissance was built on. This painting was and still is able to sum up the purpose of the Renaissance.

Who Am I?

Amongst the geniuses and significant thinkers, I place myself as a symbol, Athena. Athena was a deity of the ancient greeks. She was the Goddess of war, wisdom, arts and justice. In 'The School of Athens', Athena gazes down upon the scientists who are discussing and revealing the new ideas that supported the Renaissance. I feel I am like Athena because I share a passion for the traits she is known for. I too find a great interest in the arts, learning and creating but also, to a limit, destroying. I have always been intrigued by war and why it comes around and how there is not always the sense of fairplay. Having avdantages has always been a good thing in my opinion but when the advantage was not earned in a fair way, I can't help but feel injustice. Athena was also the icon of wisdom which was much of the time focused around Science, which is also my forte is school. Athena and I posess similar characteristics but in the same way we are so different.

The Perseverance of William Wilberforce

Santiago was an adolesent Spaniard boy in search of his destiny. A native of Adalusia Spain, he became a shepherd when he was an early teenager and left home to wander the plains of Spain. Born a christian, Santiago went to school to become a preist but realized, it would never satisfy him. Testing luck, Santiago bravely abandoned the life he knew, for another. After two years of wandering the region with his sheep, Santiago truly began to search for his destiny. Along the journey, he met a few notable characters that helped him along his way. Unfortunately, Santiagos journey, like so many others, didn'r run a smooth course. Obstacles blocked his path and disarmed Santiago with doubt and fear. Like William Wilberforce, it did not stop Santiago for long. Keeping his eye on the right path, he found his Destiny. Santiago learned to follow omens, came to know the Soul of the World and learned to Speak to Language of the world.


William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British Politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780 and became the independent member of Parliament or Yorkshire (1784–1812). In 1785, he underwent a conversion experience and became an evangelical Christian ,resulting in major changes to his lifestyle and a lifelong concern for reform. In 1787, he came into contact with Thomas Clarkson and a group of anti-slave-trade activists, including Granville Sharp, Hannah Moore and Charles Middleton. They persuaded Wilberforce to take on the cause of abolition, and he soon became one of the leading English abolitionists. During the time of his campaign, in spite of the petitions and lectures and arguments, Wilberforce was constantly thrown down by other members of Parliament and people.

In the streets, people would shout at him and scream of failure. "You are fighting a losing battle!", "Your arguments are ignored as you shall be if you don't leave them behind!" ~ quotes William heard throughout the streets of Yorkshire. Other members of Parliament tortured him by flaunting about the court rooms beating their slaves and shouting at them. William wondered why cruelty was the economy of the world, financed by arrogance and pompous men, he wondered, when will this terror end? Many friends who helped him along in the campaign died and hundreds of thousands of slaves passed away while he fought for their freedom. He never let that stand in his way, though. He headed the parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade for twenty-six years until the passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807. William was reverred a hero in the eyes of thousands, not only to the slaves but to those too scared to stand up. (Wikipedia.com revised)

Wisdom: The Sum of Time and Patience

Wisdom treads the desert sands,

embraced by the robes of many years,

learning, as he slowly carves his way through life.

In The Alchemist, Paulo Coehlo tries to tell people about wisdom and how it takes time to gain enough to move on to your destiny. A person can't just know everything all at once, knowledge comes with experience and experience comes with time. Everyday in your life, you will learn something new that may be insignificant or change your life, you will still learn them. Anything and everything you will learn in life will bring you closer to your destiny, even if it is the least expected. With the knowledge you learn, you will be able to achieve your destiny. Coehlo also tells us that the journey we will make for this knowledge, will be hard. Though, in The Alchemist, Coehlo uses the main charcter Santiago to show us that at the end of the road, we find the reason we took that particular path in the first place, and rest assured that it was worth it. We are the main characters in our own story of life and the road to the end will be long and hard but well worth the wait and effort.

Strength: Pulling Myself Through Life

Strength comes in different forms; Physical and Emotional. In my opinion, the emotional strength carries the heavier burden. Over the course of my life, I have gone through hard times and truths that would thrust me down, and make me feel depressed. "Life is pain, highness. Whoever says differently is selling something." ~The Princess Bride I can try to forget the things I hear but no matter what I do, I will always know them. "Once you know something, you can never un-know it." ~unknown. The driving force that keeps me positive and picks me back up? It is the knowledge that the bad experiences that truly define the good in life. When people leave me out of groups, it only builds the joy for when I am accepted. When the good times come along, I realize that there is more in life than hate and bad feelings. In my grade seven year, strength hit me with a big sucker punch to the face. On my facebook account, another girl called my terrible names and told me I was no good but I knew better. I told myself that I should pay these comments no mind, so I did, and in the end I realized that she only called me those things because others were hurting her. I picked myself back up and brushed myself off ready to help her back on her feet. I knew that I had found the good in the bad. In that knowledge, I can rise back up from the ground and resume my position. The emotional strength that I have, has been building up for many years. It helps haul me back up when I am struck down and keeps me going through the storm I call life. My destiny is to serve my country and I will need not only family and peer support, but moral strength.

“And I know the Soul of The World, because we have talked a great length to each other during this endless trip through the universe.” (Coelho 142)

Santiago learns how to speak the Language of the Universe and understand the Soul of the World, but not without having faced hardships. In The Alchemist, a boy Santiago bravely departs from his life as a shepherd in search of something that will add meaning to his life. Santiago desires to travel farther than the fields of Andalusia and sets off not knowing what will come ahead. Having dreamt of treasure at the Great Pyramids of Egypt, Santiago sets off in search of his Destiny. Along the way, Santiago befriends remarkable people that change his life. Each person supports and helps Santiago through the tough situations and new experiences he faces. Overcoming obstacles, discovering there is more to himself than he thought and adapting to new people places and things, Santiago struggles to uncover his destiny. Santiago achieves his destiny through his open mindedness, determination and bravery.

Santiago had to be open to new things for him to progress on his journey. When he arrived in Tangier, Santiago only knew Spanish, whereas the local language was Arabic. Had Santiago not learned Arabic, his journey would have come to a halt. The Crystal merchant that Santiago had worked for, spoke only Arabic. Santiago had to learn the language to work, work to make money and have money to continue on his quest for Destiny. Santiago had to be open to new people as well, because the people he would meet on his journey would do him great good. At first, Santiago didn’t really wish to speak much with the Englishman he had met in the Caravan, until he found they had something in common. “The boy was suddenly happy to be there at the warehouse.” (Coelho 66) The Languages Santiago knew carried past his career as a Crystal Merchants assistant and into the Caravan. In Spanish, Santiago could speak with the Englishman and learn of his journey toward his destiny. The Englishman taught Santiago of Alchemy and his quest to find the Alchemist and Santiago taught the Englishman to be observant during their time in the Caravan. When they arrived at Al Faiyum, Santiago helped the Englishman find the Alchemist by speaking to people of the oasis in Arabic. When found,
the Alchemist took to Santiago and supported and helped him better his ability to communicate with the Soul of The World. Santiago would never have been able to do any of these things with out first learning Arabic, for which he had to be open. Learning new languages, new things about the world and new choices, Santiago prepared himself for each new step toward his destiny by being open, no matter how hard it would be.

Determined to follow his quest for destiny through to its’ conclusion, Santiago pressed on. After being robbed at the Tangier market, Santiago lost the urge to fight for his destiny and decided to earn money and buy more sheep, continuing his life as a shepherd. Santiago worked in a Crystal Shop to earn the money. Santiago was and had always wanted to make an impact in his life, so when the time came, he was determined to follow through. “Don’t forget that everything you deal with is only one thing and nothing else. And don’t forget the language of the omens. And above all, don’t forget to follow your Destiny through to its’ conclusion.” (Coelho 29) When the long months of working in the Crystal Merchants’ shop were over and enough money had been earned, Santiago walked down the hill the shop was built on. He remembered his sheep and how they were friends and he thought about how the Desert wasn’t such a friend to him. He thought of how his treasure was out there and that he could always return to sheep. After contemplating the decisions, Santiago joined the Al Faiyum Caravan. While at the Oasis, as Santiago watched the sky, he noticed two hawks in the sky and read their pattern, having a vision. He had seen a vision of a group of soldiers on their way to attack the oasis. Determined to do something, Santiago told the Council of the attack, preparing them for an ambush, saving many lives. To carry through to find his destiny, Santiago was determined to get through the tough times and continue on his journey.

With bravery, Santiago had to overcome the trials the road held and conquer his realized fears to find his true destiny. After his meeting with the Oasis Council, to tell them of the attack he had seen, Santiago left the tent only to be thrown down by a mysterious masked man astride a white horse, wielding a scimitar. ‘“Who dares to read the flight of the hawks?”...”It is I who dared to do so.” And Santiago lowered his head to receive a blow from the sword. “Many lives will be saved because I was able to see through to the Soul of The World”’ (Coelho 105) Santiago had to face this man, show him he had no fear of him. As a result of his bravery toward the stranger, Santiago was allowed to live and was called to meet the strange man the next day, unbeknownst to Santiago that he had just met the Alchemist. The Alchemist told Santiago that he must leave what he cared about behind him and move on to achieve his destiny. Though hesitant, Santiago gathered his courage and went off into the desert to find what the last one plus years had been about. Desert robbers later attacked Santiago after he had parted ways with the Alchemist. When asked what he was doing, Santiago said searching for treasure but was not believed. He was told by one of the robbers about his own dream of treasure and where it was and how he never followed it, before leaving him to die. Finally, after the incident and long journey, Santiago arrived back at square one, under the old Sycamore tree where he had started his journey. Santiago found the treasure and new what he had to do and he headed back to the Oasis. Santiagos’ courage pulled him through the obstacles that stood in his way and cleared the path to achieving his destiny.

Bravely leaving his home, Santiago open-mindedly took in new experiences and skills, determined to find his destiny. It was important for Santiago to achieve his destiny because it was the only way he could live a happy life. After being ignored long enough, the omens that help you begin to fade away to nothing and leave you knowing you could have followed them. Santiago Achieved his destiny by not letting anything stand in his way, plowing through the obstacles and easing into the exotic, ready to keep on following the path to his destiny.

Open Your Eyes and Welcome The Differences.

I believe in acceptance, taking risks and opening up to differences.

Matt Hardings’ essay, “Connecting to a Global Tribe”, is very self-explanatory. When Matt says, “My brain was designed to inhabit a fairly small social network of maybe a few dozen other primates”, I find that true for everybody. We all know people in our own communities, ‘tribes’ as Matt calls them, as the people we have grown up to know. We know a small group of people and for most people, they only know that small group. Matt Harding traveled all over the world to see all different communities of people and thus broadened his community of people. Traveling all over the world to see different sites, hear different sounds and meeting new people. By seeing and experiencing new things, anyones’ view of the world and of people can become broader and I think that Matt Harding has put the proof to the theory with his amazing video.

The Extraordinary in the Ordinary

Wishes, Hopes, Dreams and Inspiration are found with everyone. All people, no matter what nationality, belief system or life style, have them. Most people look the other way though. People of the modern world look more on people who are beautiful, handsome, famous and/or rich. In fact, we have looked onto things like that so much, that the true talent is hidden. Susan Boyle is a 47 year old woman living in the UK. She isn’t beautiful, she isn’t rich and to some people she is just plain old ordinary.

When she first stepped out onto the stage on the show ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, you could tell that everybody who looked at her had great doubt that she was going to get anywhere. By there facial expressions and remarks, anybody could tell that the audience didn’t like her. To everybody’s surprise though, she belted it out and wowed everyone. She put real means to the term ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ It all depends on your point of view. Susan was judged by her appearance and clothing. Susan Boyle had a dream to be like the singer who inspired her to start singing, Elaine Paige. She held onto her dream of becoming a singer since she was 12 years old and had a strong enough hope to be a professional.

The same treatment was given to Paul Potts a few years earlier. He wasn’t handsome or muscular but there was talent. He had a dream of becoming a professional Opera singer but when he made it known on the stage of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ he too was ridiculed. When he sang, though, his talent blasted. It was a true surprise to every one. Paul knew that he was born to do Opera and held fast to that dream until he was able to show it. Like in the Langston Hughes poem, it says ‘Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.’ What if Paul let go of his dream and just remained doing his job? There would be no excitement as there was being able to show he had talent to the world.

Millions of people want to see people like Susan Boyle and Paul Potts for two reasons, they either hear it from there friends that these people are really good and/or they want to see proof of this kind of talent coming from this ‘type’ of person. A first impression of either of them and you may think they have no talents and are weird for trying something they “obviously” can’t do. People all over have become so attached to the ‘first sight= impression’ method that we turn down people we think lowly of when they are truly wonderful people to be around. I do believe that you can find the extraordinary in the ordinary.

I chose the picture shown above because, to me, it represents opinion based on our 'eye' view and how we look at things. Artwork by: Teesha Moore

I chose the image of a key because it represents the lost key mentioned in passage four.
The key is a close friendship and the closer you get to the key, the more treasure you will find.
Photo found at: spasmicallyperfect.wordpress.com

I am an Eagle
Soaring over the land of the free,
My home of the brave.
After a long departure
Anxious to land and see my family

I am a needle and thread.
I help mend people when they are torn
though, I break, too

I am a paintbrush.
I paint words that are an art.
Fantasy and Reality
My creations are unique

I am a treasure chest
Full of secrets
The key lies tucked away
Whilst the treasure lies
waiting to be discovered.

I am a little child,
on the inside.
A young adult on the outside.
Stuck between two worlds altogether
as they slowly merge.