When my mother took me out of high school, I knew that my life would become difficult because we were taught that you have to have an education to make it in life. I worked to help my mother _________ bills and that was all I could do at the time. Then she started telling me that when I turned 18, I had to get out of the house. I couldn’t understand what was going on because my brother was _________ than I was and she didn’t want to kick him out.

As I started nearing my 18th birthday I was really beginning to feel _________ because I didn’t have a(n) _________ on what I was going to do. One night while I was watching television, a commercial came on about _________ the Navy.

The next day I called the number on the commercial and _________ up an appointment to meet the recruiter（征兵人员）.When he _________ me not having a high school diploma he knew I had a _________ chance. I explained to him that I was going to be _________ in a few months. He told me he would __________ what he could do.

About a month later he called me and asked me to __________ his office. I went in and he __________ to me he would have to pull some strings (暗中施加影响) to get me in the service but I had to promise him that I would __________ the best of this opportunity he was trying to create for me and I did.

He was able to get me in the military and I __________ my end of the bargain by doing eight years and __________ an Honorable Discharge from the service.

Now I have a status in __________ that many don’t and have an ability to make my life a little easier with that __________ I made and the help I received.

Many individuals can feel hopeless and find they __________ do not have family support around to help them __________ their difficult moments. However, my __________ tells me that as long as you don’t abandon hope, hope will never abandon you.

I knew this woman who was afraid to tell people what she wanted. She didn’t know how to say no. _______, she got herself trapped in a web of _______, anxiety, and white lies. She was me.

The worst thing was that I didn’t even _______ what I was doing. I thought I knew how to say “no”---but couldn’t _______ the last time I had. Like a lot of people, I just wanted to be _______，appreciated,  loved---and that the only way to get those things was to put everyone else’s needs _______ my own.

But recently, I _______ I’d had enough. As an _______, I began standing up for myself, even at the _______ of losing my friends and having my entire life come crashing down around me. That didn’t ________ . Here’s what I did:

Six months ago, I was asked to volunteer serving guests and taking tickets at a long and ________ social event. Rather than saying that I had little interest，I said “OK.” And then I was ________ about how to get out of this responsibility.

________, after many waves of anxiety, I told the organizers I had a bad cold and then I quitted. Not only had I wasted hours and days worrying, but also I probably ________ to help those people in need.

Saying “no” is now so much ________. If someone asks me to do something I have zero ________ in, I’m polite but ________. The phrase，“I’m sorry，I don’t think that’s really for me,’’ slips out of my mouth faster than some bad excuse.

Learning how to say “no” has ________ several extra hours to my days, days to my weeks, and what feels like months to my years. I no longer have to cancel my plans to help a friend with their job search, or ________ a weekend to read a book draft (草稿) by someone I hardly know. Saying “no” has set me free. Make sure you know these ways to say “no” to ________ things in your life so you can have more“me” time in your life too.

Starting a career in engineering can be challenging. You know what you ________: experience, a network and often the confidence that everything will ________.

My advice to young engineers is: Focus on your ________, and stop worrying about your weaknesses. Of course, you must ________ problems in areas where you are weak, but ________ spending too much effort on them. Chances are that you will never be perfect in those areas, so it makes no ________ in wasting your energy.

Of course, there will be times when things are hard, but if you believe in yourself and have a ________ of where you want to go and develop your strengths—they’ll ________ you apart, you will go far.

The biggest challenge I have faced in my career is being a woman in a ________ profession. When I started working, I was the only female engineer in my division. Though I was as ________ as my colleagues, it was tough to get them to accept me as their ________. Instead of feeling upset, I chose to focus on my strengths as a woman engineer to earn their respect. ________, they accepted me.

Thankfully, the gender ________ has improved since I first started. Now, I have several female engineers working in my team. As the head, I get a thrill from ________ people in roles and on projects according to their abilities and seeing them achieve great results. Helping a person ________ by focusing on her strengths gives me a huge amount of satisfaction.