You Decide Your Own Future :)

   Friday afternoon, my parents, my brother, and I gathered in front of the computer, looking attentively at the computer screen. The president of United States, Barack Obama, was confidently making a speech at Wakefield High School about the importance of education. This speech was made by him in 2009 at the beginning of September when school just started. Even though a few years have passed since his back-to-school speech, we felt his passions, and became motivated ourselves while watching it, as if President Obama was making a live talk. We had decided to watch a speech like this because it was that time of the year again--the start of school. Both my brother and I had been to school for a week already, and like so many students out there, we wished that summer were still here. However, this year, for both me and my brother, but especially for me, is a really important year. School work becomes significantly heavier, there is more stress, and of course, I will be applying for university soon. Excelling in both academics and extracurricular activities is indeed a challenging task, which sometimes is possible to drive one "crazy." Therefore, something positive, like the speech made by Barack Obama, will boost our enthusiasms to work harder and try our best. 
   Barack Obama has always been a passionate speaker; I had listened to some of his speeches before, all of which were confident, clear, and moving. This time, I really looked forward to his speech because he talked about education, something I could relate to myself. Not to my surprise, President Obama was impressive, and inspired me greatly. He mentioned in his speech his own experience as a student. While he was living in Indonesia, he cannot go to school because his family struggled and was poor. However, his mother insisted that he had education, so she taught him herself on weekdays at 4:30am. Because his mother also had to work, he regularly woke up at 4:30 am, when the sun might not even be up yet, to study and get education. President Obama's experience made me recall something my father always tells me-- no one can succeed easily, and no pain no gain. President Obama is now famous and successful, but he studied hard as a young student and woke up early each day. Only when he was diligent, and put in his greatest efforts was he able to win the election and become the president of the United States. He must have worked harder than anyone to achieve what he had today. And education was an important factor contributing to his success. Education is indeed a path to a successful life, and as the world quickly progresses, education is likely to be the only means to succeed. Education provides us with an opportunity to learn different subjects, and it helps us find our passions because only when we try a little bit of everything, we will realize what is it that we are really good at. Once we know our interests, education makes it possible for us to thoroughly explore that subject, and even make new discoveries about something never seen before. Education is powerful, but it wouldn't be if we don't take responsibilities for ourselves and work hard. Our jobs as students are to learn and prepare for a future that we desire, through education and definitely, hard work. Without commitment, no one can succeed.
    Finally, I would like to end with a quote from President Obama's speech. "No one's written your destiny for you, because you write your own destiny. You make your own future." 

Here is a link to the speech:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks