Did you read Karl’s story? He came from a rural area in western Hunan and got into a top-tier university. He was once the pride of the whole village, but then he got trapped in graduate school exams for five years.

I did. The hardest part for me was when he cried during the livestream and said it all felt like a dream. At that moment, the phrase “education changes destiny” suddenly felt very heavy.

Yeah. The ancients said, “Ten years of hard study go unnoticed, but one success makes you famous everywhere.” But today, after years of studying, success isn’t guaranteed. There may only be tuition fees, age pressure, and employment stress waiting ahead.

He wanted to get into a prestigious university not just to save face, but more like trying to get a ticket into the city. The first time he rode the subway, the first time he saw big companies in Hangzhou—those details felt very real.

Still, I keep thinking that if a dream turns into an obsession, it becomes like gambling, just as he said himself. Taking a small chance for a big reward is brave, but if you keep losing, it can hollow a person out.

But we also can’t casually tell him to give up. For people with resources, changing paths is easy. For rural children, every road feels like a mountain path—one wrong step hurts deeply.

So when discussing this topic in class, I want students to think about this: Is hard work meant to prove yourself, or to find a place where you can survive and live?

That’s a good question. Maybe truly “changing one’s fate against the odds” isn’t necessarily getting into a prestigious university, but being able to choose again after seeing reality clearly, instead of trapping yourself inside an admission ticket.