Did you ever have one of those dreams that seemed to go on forever? I had one like that last night. I was walking down an old, side road _______I used to walk along as a teenager. I wasn’t quite _______ where I was headed, but I felt very determined to get there. Like in many _______, time seemed fluid and people seemed ageless. As I walked along I kept _______ people from both my _______ and my present. I saw both my Mom and my Grandma who had passed away and I was able to _______ them both one more hug. I ran into many childhood friends and we talked, joked, and laughed just like we were _______ again.

Still, I kept walking, hoping to reach wherever I was headed. Around every turning, though, there was _______ new. I saw strangers _______ and stopped to help them. I met a smiling, old man who ________ shared his life’s wisdom with me and then I ________ passed it on to young children further down the road. With every ________steps it seemed there was a ________ adventure in learning and love. I never got to where I was going and ________ feeling like I had lived a lifetime in a single ________. It ________ me a bit that I never ________ where I was headed. ________ then I realized that this dream was a lot like our life. It is the walk that ________. You will meet a lot of wonderful people and go through a lot of ________ experiences.

Seven years ago I began accompanying my father to the farmers’ market to sell vegetables we harvested from our farm. In the beginning I did what I could to _______ him.

As time went on, I increasingly _______ gardening, so I planted a garden of my own and became a vendor (小贩) myself. The farmers’ market soon became my workplace for many summers to come. The vendors at the market are _______ to share their gardening knowledge. My _______ in the farmers’ market helped me grow and opened doors I had never _______.

As I learned to manage my own gardening business, _______ came quickly. I had to rise early in the morning at 4 a.m. to go to the market with my fresh produce, which _______ I would be there to greet _______ customers.

_______, the President of the Farmers’ Union invited me to become a member. I greatly enjoyed this ________. Many members of the Farmers’ Union were very ________. I learned a lot from them.

Actually it is important to ________ the knowledge I gained to the next generation so that knowledge will not ________. I am very ________ for the gardening knowledge vendors taught to me over the years. I am happy when ________ about the different varieties of plants and how to raise them. I also want to ________ the knowledge that I gain at Washington University with others and be a positive ________. I think that knowledge is worthless ________ it is shared with others. I am a very determined person who ________ putting forth the extra effort to achieve. I will try my best to reach my full ________ and contribute to society.

As children, our parents had dreams for us. They wanted us to do whatever was necessary to reach our highest ______. Later in life, friends and spouses (配偶) may also have schedules for us. People close to us may have ideas about ______ we should live our lives. The ideas usually ______ love and the desire for us to be happy. Other times, they come from a place of need within them— ______ it is the parent who wants us to ______ his or her dreams or the friend who wants us to play an already­defined role. We can appreciate and consider those people's input, but ______ we must follow our own inner guidance.

There may come a time when all the suggestions can become ______. We may feel that the people we love don't approve of our judgment, which can ______ us to some extent. It can ______ the choices we make for our lives by making us ______ ourselves. It may also fill a void (空虚) with their ______ before we've had a chance to decide what we want. However, it can affect us ______ as well. We may have to ______ the feelings of resistance and to keep ourselves off from them. But we can take some time to ______ ourselves of any unnecessary doubts and go within to become ______ on what we desire for ourselves.

We can tell our loved ones how much we ______ their thoughts and ideas, but that we need to live our own lives and make our own ______. We can explain that they need to let us learn from our own experiences ______ to rob us of wonderful life lessons and the opportunity to ______ our own judgment. When they see that we are happy with our lives, they can see all we need them do is to share ______ with us.