Fate or Free Will? Whatever Shall I Choose?

Two days ago, I posted on my Facebook about how I wish I could control fate.  I had just auditioned for all-state so it's understandable why I posted this considering my chances of getting in were slim.  My best friend grandmother commented on it and told me "there is no such thing as fate."  I was actually take aback at what she said because I had always believed in fate.  I also believe in free will too but what I didn't understand is why would someone say that fate doesn't exist?  It's a very foreign concept for me and it got me thinking about Oedipus Rex.

Sophocles made sure to make fate play a big role in Oedipus's life.  He used Gods like Apollo who is the God of prophecies in the play to make fate more apparent.  What I wonder was if Oedipus chose to go the other way at the cross road would free will triumph over fate or would fate still find a way to sneak in and ruin the lives of many people.  I think if Oedipus chose the other way at the crossroad then all would be okay and his mother and father did not have to die.  Does that concept apply to people in today's world?

I think it does.  Sometimes I find myself put in situations that I know I was meant to be in to help those around me.  Other situations, I choose to be in because I have the free will to break away from the path that fate has chosen for me.  I like to think that I do have a say in my future but when it comes down to it, does fate influence our free will/choices or do our choices influence our fate?