Overcoming obstacles

The students in my English writing class do 10 minute Quick Writes in response to our discussion of a prompt or story.  Last week we reviewed the Cliff Young story (the 61 yr old Aussie runner) and they wrote a about the
theme of overcoming obstacles. Here are a few that might interest you:

Ma Xias wrote:

I know a friend of mine who overcame his obstacles successfully. His name is Xu Hei and he is 23 year old boy. When he was in college, he found that he was unable to speak English words clearly because of the inscientific training  during middle school He made great effort to overcome it he got up at six every morning to read English articles. When he read, he put a stone into his mouth to help to pronounce the right pronunciation. Day be day, he could speak English better and better and he even gave an impressive English lecture successfully. But the stone he put into his mouth is worn. We can see with so much efforts he eventually succeed. From him, I find determination and tenacity. We all need to make our determination and spare no efforts to achieve our goals, no matter how much pain it takes.The boy is now a successful engineer.

Shan Shan wrote:

The story I am going to tell you is about my father. he was born in a poor family, my grandpa passed away when father was only 12 years old, so my aunt and dad were brought up by grandma. When my dad was 15 years old, he went out to work and tried to support his family. He did lots of obs, such as driver, house builder, worker and so on. His life was on the line for several times, and he suffered a lot. However, my dad never gave up and sticked to his dream. He worked hard and finally became a successful businessman. He always encouraged me to keep on when I had come across some difficulties. My father's life experience taught me to be a determined person.

Wenwen wrote:

For badminton players, 32 years old may not be a golden age, especially for double-men's games. But this year in London, Chinese badmiton player, Cai Yun, achieved his goal and won the gold medal with his partner, Fu Haifeng. Before the Olympics, many people thought it would be hard for them to win even a silver medal, but in the end, they did.  Four years ago in Beijing, both Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng are very young and energetic, but because of lack of experience, they lost a very good chance. After overcoming so many difficulties and being more determined now, finally their dream came true.