The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I need to make a choice: go to law school or remain in my job as an elementary ESL teacher.
Reasons I want to be a lawyer:
*In pushing for equality for immigrant children, I can offer even more support to the children that I work with.
*Eventually, I'll be able to realistically provide for my children's college education (thinking ahead, I know, but considering the cost of Wash U, it's definitely time to start!)
*I will have more professional prestige, which is not the most important thing, but at least I won't feel like people usually underestimate my career choice.
*I need a challenge.
Reasons I want to stay as a teacher:
*I have so much fun with my students and take pride in their accomplishments.
*I have a job: it's guaranteed and my salary will rise a little bit after I finish my M. Ed. this summer.
*It's a positive work environment.
*Summer Vacation! (which could be a way to save a ton on childcare eventually, too).
*Paying off loans instead of taking out new ones (yikes).
I don't know which choice is "the road less traveled!" For a Wash U grad, probably being a teacher is less expected, but in terms of difficulty and taking a risk, law school would be the answer. I don't actually need to decide right now, or even this year, but I feel like I want some semblance of a life plan.
2 comments:
If you're talking about the road less traveled, it'd almost definitely be teaching. Everyone in the world (or so it seems) wants to be a lawyer. It's almost cliche. No one in the world (or so it seems) wants to be an elementary ESL teacher. And in case it makes a difference, the narrator of the poem recalls taking the road less traveled "with a sigh," suggesting he's not perfectly happy with his choice, so even the road less traveled isn't perfectly fulfilling, though it makes all the difference.
But that's my problem: I don't know how I'm defining "less traveled." By whom, or when, or why I would travel it are all factors, too. If I compared myself to everyone else, teaching would be the choice, but I don't care what anyone else does...I don't want to be a lawyer for the label. The problem is that I just don't want to take the easy way out for myself, which isn't to say that teaching is easy, it's just not the type of challenge I desperately need.
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