Ambition, an eager and strong desire to achieve something, directs and motivates one to make great success. Needless to say, ambition plays an indispensable part in one’s career because, in some sense, a firm determination is a definite life direction which encourages one to strive for success. Then, who decides one’s ambition? Is it chosen by oneself or by others? According to Joseph Epstein, a famous American writer, “No matter how different the universe may be to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make…forming our own destiny is what ambition is about.” It can be interpreted to mean that it is we who decide and choose ambition by ourselves. I can’t agree with Joseph Epstein more.
People from different living surroundings may have different personal interests, moral convictions and social values, so what they want to achieve is rather distinct. Take interest for instance. Many students in the middle school have developed their interests in such areas as computer science, biological technology, English literature, and so on, so when they become a college student, they choose their major as an ambition according to their interest. Surely, their own choice will contribute to high efficiency in working for their ambition. To say it briefly, the choice of ambition depends very much on the individual.
On the contrary, if one’s ambition is decided by others, say, parents, teachers or friends, it will do harm rather than good. A case in point is that the influence of Chinese parents on their children’s ambition has become an impediment to social development. Many Chinese parents have everything prepared for their children, from trivial arrangement in daily life to decisive plan for personal career, regardless of their children’s likes and dislikes. To enter a college is not so much related to students’ ambition as to their parents’ ambition. Many Chinese parents regard college as the only place to have their children’s dreams realized, whe
