In the writing section of this year’s English exam paper in the College Entrance Examination, the exam takers were required to write a 100-120 word essay, which was titled Your Future Depends on Many Things, but Mostly You. They had to express their opinions on it with at least one concrete example. The beginning first sentence was already given. The following is my version of the essay. I did it for fun.

In the English Reading Week, one of my classmates recommended a quote to us, which goes like this, “Your Future Depends on Many Things, but Mostly You.” I can’t agree more with this view. Living in the world, we don’t have full control of our future. Many factors, such as family background, school education, and many other chance happenings, could affect our life and possibly change our fate. However, our personal qualities like our attitudes towards life and work, determination and hard work play a much more important role in the process. Good opportunities always favor those who are well prepared. In other words, our future is basically determined by what we do today.

Take Zhang Haidi for example. She was born into a common family. Less fortunate than most of us, she was disabled when she was 5 years old and had to sit in a wheelchair to move around. In many people’s eyes, she would never achieve anything, considering her disability. However, she determined to make her own living and be a useful person. Not only did she teach herself from elementary to high school, but also managed to be a famous writer. Furthermore, she studied acupuncture by herself, and has helped lots of local people with her medical knowledge and skills. Therefore, I firmly believe that our future is in our own hands.