Fate Vs. Free-Will: What Do I Believe in and Why?

When the discussion between fate and free will was first brought up in class, the first question the Mrs.Feldkamp asked was do you believe in fate, or does your free-will determine your fate (we used the word destiny). This question erupted different emotions and answers in the class; the table in-front of me argued that there is destiny and free-will, next to me someone said destiny doesn't really matter, we control our future by what we do, yet I was a bit confused in what I truly believed in, until now, I decided what I finally think is true.

Here is the big reveal, none of us know what is the real answer lmao. What we base all our answers is some imaginary scenario each of us have thought in our head, or the reassuring words of the ones around us. Someone saying "that makes sense" in a slightly understanding tone doesn't make it true. All we can do is come up with hypothesis, but there is no way to test that hypothesis, meaning no true theory can be made for the "big" question, so that theory can never really become a fact of natural law. How can we possible experiment on someones fate: what would be the control group, what is our independent variable, who are we even going to experiment on. 

Here is a question that has no answer but also a very simple answer, at least according to me. why not live in the present instead of indulging in the fact of the future. If you believe that there is destiny set in stone for you right before you open the gates to heaven, why worry about it if you know its coming, or if you are someone who doesn't believe that you don't have a fate, like ending up in a mansion in LA with 27 cars to you name, then why make it your personality to argue with people who do believe in their destiny, instead focus on creating the best version of yourself in the present. I wish I could have brought up this argument in class because it is somewhat comforting. 

Let's leave the answer to this debate to some A.I. we create in the future with like 9000 IQ, because we do not want to waste our valuable time in the present thinking about it.