Editor's note: Every year millions of young Chinese high school graduates go through tremendous stress and pressure as they "sit the Gaokao" that is the National College Entrance Exam where the result have long lasting effects on their lives.China Daily website invites some students who have gaokao experience to share with us how gaokao has shaped their life.

Claudia Mao

It might seem cruel and unreasonable at the beginning - you take a test for each subject three days in a roll and the result of the test kind of "determines" a big chunk of your life destination, for a 18 years old teenager.

However, I think Gaokao is so far the best way to help young people pursue their dreams or change their lives in China.

High school students lead in heated tests and studies to prepare for the first biggest test in their life, the college entrance examinations, as shown in A Little Reunion , a hit TV series. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chen Bin

For the students born in the countryside, it is the only way and best way to change the fate. After college entrance examination, I went to college, it is my first time to leave my hometown, it is meaningful. And after I finished the college course, I apply for a master degree, and I was fortunate to be admitted to the THU, Chinese top two college. And now, the first year I study for a master degree, the money my supervisor give me is higher than my mom earnd in the little factory.

Students take the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE). [PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY]

FrankFang

It does push me to work harder before gaokao. the habit of work hard in a rival environment and never find excuses does benefit my life as a professional worker.

I do find it twist my mind a little bit when I was young. I forgot that the purpose of the studying in school is to learn true knowledge and moral rule. it's not just win in all the exams.

Senior students at a high school in Handan, North China's Hebei province, prepare for gaokao, May 21, 2019. [Photo/VCG]

Eames Patel

The score you get from Gaokao is the one and only factor that will be considered by the admission committee of universities. Since key universities (211 and 985 project universities) are way better than others, it is crucial to get into one of those universities to have a career after graduation.

But it's not all that bad if one fails. While I am feeling good about myself getting into a 211, some others who failed have started their business or taught themselves remarkable things, etc. So, it cannot totally 'shape' your life, nothing can, but still, a significant step.

A graduating student attends a class at Jiangsu Qingjiang Middle School in Huaian, East China's Jiangsu province, on March 30, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

taikor

In much of the developed world, it is often those from affluent backgrounds who get the best education and the best jobs. In China, however, the dream of graduating from a top college to change one's fortunes is still alive, making higher education in the country particularly utilitarian.

Graduating students prepare for the national college entrance examination, or gaokao, at a high school in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, June 5, 2019. [Photo/sipa]