ladies and gentlemen, teachers, my fellow students:

i am very excited and feel it's a great honor to stand here to deliver my speech. what i'm going to talk about is "choice in my life"

i can still remember the first time i failed in a singing contest. i immediately ran to my grandma, shedding lots of tears of course! i cried loudly and could hardly utter a word!

then, badly needed comforting words and touch came from grandma. i gradually regained my sense of pride and a sensible control of my feelings. yet, head down, i said: "grandma, i have no choice, and i have to give up, right?" "look at me, my dear!"she said gently. i looked up, straight into her eyes. what i saw was a shining, sweet, and loving stream from the bottom of her heart! then, there came the gentle voice of hers: "no, no, no…" her head shaking, while eyes smiling. "why don't you give more attention to the details?" she continued.

no other words were needed any more! i started practicing and rehearsing once again, paying special attention to those little things that i used to ignore. as a consequence, my overall performance was quickly elevated to a new high! without much trouble, in another singing contest held months later, i won!

what do i learn from this experience? never give up lightly! life's full of opportunities, and lots of them! to realize your dreams and fulfill your potential, you must learn to work hard and smart and steer your lifeboat wisely! as a li ling's sportswear commercial goes "everything is possible!" but not without sweat, devotion, and tears sometimes!

life is a long journey, during which we are surely going to face many challenges, experience lots of failures, and equally, many opportunities are waving to us, while sweet rewards are waiting for us! to transform these opportunities into fruitful results, or turn those challenges and failures into valuable assets, we must learn to seize the good ones and not to retreat lightly in front of difficulties.

winners can never be quitters!

thank you all!