11/06/2025
- I couldn't have said it any better myself. "They're gonna know - How would they know? They'll know."
I graduated high school in 1991. It took me eight years—through a big swing at life and a few detours, including the Army, jail, and back—to finally earn my associate degree in 1999.
I auditioned to read Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken at commencement. Well, I wasn’t chosen.
Back then, I thought the poem was about bravery—taking the tougher road, making the bold choice. Now, sitting in my Advanced Composition Level 2 class in 2025, I read it differently. Frost’s traveler isn’t celebrating rebellion; he is reflecting. He considers choices, acknowledges uncertainty, and accepts that paths may look different than expected.
It’s less about being “different” and more about how decisions shape the journey.
After earning my associate degree, I drifted away from school, always promising I’d return. Work, bills, a wife, and kids, just adulting —kept me busy. Then one day, life gave me an unexpected opportunity, and I am now retired - That's where I wanted to STOP!
Honestly, I don't really need a bacelor's degree to achieve my life goals. Life is a journey, and now retired, I can really take my time and DO LIFE RIGHT and ON MY TERMS.
I am using this TIME as an opportunity to step back into the "Halls of Education," to walk a road I had once left behind. And, its now paved - with newly painted lines and huge neon flashing arrows. Now, the road looks a lot easier to travel.
The choice to choose a road, doesn't have to be as Existential as you would think. I can now take as much time as l need.
The poem has already proven to be timeless, and the message of The Road Not Taken is what makes it so enduring to the reader.
Life is made up of choices, large and small, and reflection gives them their meaning. After, you see the consequences and lessons the road taught you. Life is not fair or even unjust. Life just is.
Whether we are students, workers, parents, or dreamers, Frost’s poem continues to speak across time: the paths we take, and the ones we leave for another day, matter because they are part of our story.
"Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”
