Sample TOEFL Essay – Working Hard for Goals

The Question

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? “People should keep trying to reach their goals, even if they seem impossible to achieve.” Use specific reasons and examples to explain your position.

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The Sample Essay

          Almost everyone in the world has a few long term goals they want to achieve.  Personally, I believe that we should not give up on those goals, even if it seems like we will never reach them.  I feel this way for two reasons, which I will explore in the following essay.

         First of all, we can learn valuable new skills as we work to achieve impossible targets.  Even if we don’t succeed, our determination and diligence might help us develop abilities that will be useful later in our life.  My own personal experience is compelling evidence of this.  When I was in high school, my dream was to be a professional writer and to publish a bestselling science fiction novel.  As a result, I spent every evening writing new stories.  I gave a few of them to my teachers, and they provided feedback regarding my grammar, vocabulary and structure.  Even though I worked extremely hard, I never managed to get any of my fiction published.  However, I did learn a lot about how to effectively and concisely express complex ideas in writing.  Thanks to these skills, I eventually found work as a technical writer at an engineering firm, where I have earned a substantial salary for the past decade.

           Secondly, people who remain dedicated to goals that seem impossible sometimes meet individuals who are willing to help them.  Successful people could notice their hard work and be impressed by it.  For instance, when my brother was young he wanted to be a computer programmer and work for a prestigious technology firm like Intel or Microsoft.  Given his lack of academic credentials and work experience, most of his friends thought he would never get any serious job offers.  Nevertheless, he spent all of his free time writing his own software, which he uploaded to his personal website.  One day, a senior manager at Intel noticed one of his projects and was extremely impressed by his work.  As a result, he gave my brother a job offer even though he lacked most of the formal qualifications for the position.

          In conclusion, I strongly believe that we should always try to make our dreams come true, even if the odds are against us.  This is because we will learn many new things along the way, and we might be lucky enough to encounter people who will help us reach our targets.