Personal Legends: A Critique of Passive Destiny

In the midst of my senior year of high school, I was assigned to read “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coehlo. There was a repeated theme within Coehlo’s work in which everyone had their own destiny in life, a “Personal Legend” was what he called it. Of course, Coehlo was a very religious man and it showed in his writing, The method of praying and waiting for a better life instead of actively doing something to achieve your goals was something that I did not agree with. I have just taken a step on my long endeavor in the real world, and sitting around waiting for something to happen is not how I plan to continue my journey. I have many ambitions to conquer and I will attain those goals by working hard and by keeping a determined motivation. During

Four years of hard work on my undergrad is only half of the journey. When I get accepted into a medical school the workloads will get even more challenging, a decision that I hope I will not regret along the years of hard work I have accumulated. I want to become a doctor because the feeling that I get when I have helped someone’s health get better is a reward itself. I don’t need the payment for that. I lied, making $300k a year is also a nice benefit of being a doctor in addition to making my patients feeling better and seeing their progression improve. The money is nice nonetheless, but I will have genuine care for my patients rest assured. I honestly hope money will not change the way that I am in regards to my care. I aspire not to become that doctor who just chases after money, that doctor who views his patient’s face as a source of income. Also, coming from an immigrant family after the Vietnam War, my expectations entrusted onto me are the dangling weights on my shoulder. My dad used to work two jobs, 18 hours a day in order to put food on the table and a roof over our heads for my family. He worked in those circumstances for ten years before he received a manager position at the Wynn. My parents do not have everything, but have worked around to give me everything I have ever wanted. I feel that it is my obligation to do the same and return the favor by studying and becoming