Robert Frost in his celebrated poetry ‘The Road Not Taken’, talks about a road that is diverged. Frost while walking a road through the woods, reaches a fork- a divergent, where, he stands for long to CHOOSE which path to tread upon.

The word ‘road’ here is purportedly symbolizing ‘life’, which apparently becomes undetermined at certain junctures. Often, at these junctures a person feels numb and transfixed, unclear, confused, undecisive as to what to think and what to choose.

One such prominent juncture for every student is – What after secondary (Class X)Examination?

Until class X, students largely possess a carefree, blithe approach, which restricts them to ponder upon and plan their life ahead.

And then, when suddenly, they stand at the verge of class XI, they are hit with the reality that they are at the diverged road and now they must make a choice with reference to which road to trudge on- which subject to choose. The students experience the metaphorical implication of a ‘wishbone’ that haul them in different directions. At this moment they feel maladroit about not being able to make a right choice.

Students must bear deep in their minds that they do not have to make a subject choice due to friendship factor or give in to peer pressure, parental pressure. They also must not lack the right knowledge about the subject they wish to choose else it might become the burden of their life. Hence,students should choose the stream carefully for better career prospects and lifelong happiness.

Students with strong belief and confidence in themselves must think of what they aspire to be in life, what are they passionate about,which subject interests them the most, why do they want to study that subject, if they possess the desired skill set for the subject.

Parents also should understand that they act as a guide by the side and aid their ward choose the subject of his/her choice rather than pressurising them to opt a subject that they wish their child to study. They must abstain themselves from reliving their life through their children.

Choices made with comprehensible and unambiguous mind will ascertain that the students do not end up selecting a wrong stream, thereby opening the door to worst consequences in the long-term career prospects. With a sheer belief in themselves, taking complete onus of their decision, not repenting once the choice is made, will help the students stay passionate about the subject they have opted.They will then not quit studying the subject midway or start feeling frustrated about their wrong move or decision.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.

To sum up, the choices that we make now have an impact on our future and any one wrong choice will make us regret for a lifetime as we won’t be able to travel back to rectify or amend it, therefore we must be wise while we make our choices… they may make all the difference.

By Varrtika Dadhich,
Dean (Academics)

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