The Journey That Found Me by Arya
Arya's entry into Varsity Tutor's October 2025 scholarship contest
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The Journey That Found Me by Arya - October 2025 Scholarship Essay
When I first read The Alchemist, I did not expect to see myself as a shepherd chasing a dream through the desert. Yet Santiago’s search for his treasure felt familiar. He followed signs no one else believed in. He built faith out of failure. He learned that treasure is never what you think it is at the start.
At fourteen, I was learning that same lesson. I was the kid who stayed up past midnight soldering circuits, testing code, and sketching ideas for a device that did not exist yet. I wanted to build something that mattered. The more I worked, the more I failed. The robot would not move, the wiring kept shorting, and I started wondering if my idea, a biodegradable nanorobot that could detect microplastics in soil, was just a fantasy. But Santiago’s story stayed in my head. He kept walking even when he did not know the way. So I did too.
Eventually, the design worked. My robot pulsed to life, powered by sustainable materials. I filed a patent before I turned sixteen. But more than that, I learned the difference between chasing perfection and chasing purpose. The real breakthrough was not the machine. It was realizing that invention is not about getting it right the first time; it is about believing the effort itself is worth it.
Graduating high school two years early felt like another desert to cross. Suddenly, I was in college lecture halls surrounded by people older than me. I learned how to listen more than I spoke, how to rebuild confidence when it cracked, and how to keep choosing the harder path. Santiago’s lesson echoed in every part of my life: the journey is not meant to be easy, but it is always meant to be yours.
I found another kind of treasure when I founded Plant a Change, a global nonprofit dedicated to restoring soil health through innovation. What started as one small idea grew into a movement spanning twenty-five countries. We raised twenty thousand dollars, built teams, partnered with local leaders, and gave students the chance to design solutions for their own communities. I learned that leadership is not about being the loudest in the room. It is about giving others a reason to believe they can change something too.
The recognition that followed felt surreal. Microsoft called me a “Mastermind in AI.” MSN featured my work. I was a finalist for the Women in Technology Awards. But if Santiago taught me anything, it is that treasures are temporary if you forget why you started digging. My treasure was never the medal or the headline. It was the quiet pride of seeing something I imagined in my mind exist in the real world.
Like Santiago, I discovered that the treasure I was searching for was not buried in the future; it was being built every time I refused to stop. Every sleepless night debugging code, every failed experiment, every room where I felt too young to belong, it is all part of uncovering what I was capable of.
The Alchemist taught me that success is not about luck or destiny. It is about learning to trust yourself when no one else understands your vision. It is about seeing every obstacle as a test of how much you are willing to believe in what you are building.
Now, as I look ahead to my future in engineering and innovation, I know that my treasure will keep changing shape. It may look like a new patent, a startup, or a global solution that helps communities heal their land. But it will always come from the same place: the stubborn belief that purpose is not something you find. It is something you create, piece by piece, wire by wire, idea by idea.
And like Santiago, I am still walking toward it.