The Road Less Traveled

Every time someone asks me what my college major was, I cringe, swallow and slowly reply, "Um, I was a double major, so, um, English Literature and Government." If I can, I avoid looking into their eyes because I know what kind of look I'm going to get: a blank stare that is busily shuffling the word "literature" into their brain in the hopes to come up with an appropriately nice response. Normally, their reply is something like, "Oh, wow... really? And why did you pick those? Do you teach?" I shake my head no and say a phrase that has now come to haunt me: "I chose them because I like them."

Picking a major for me was tough, really tough, as most of my roommates could tell you. And I won't lie, I put in a "Change of Major" request form at the registrar's office quite a few times. Is it because I didn't know what I wanted to be? No, more like there was too much I wanted to be, so many interests. It was hard for me to narrow it down to one. I actually threw in the Government major last minute. It was Spring 2005 and I was supposed to walk that May. I had loved the Government classes at ORU and was taking quite a few for "the fun of it" when I realized I was only 9 credit hours away from having a second major. Although it meant having to take classes that summer, it seemed too good of an opportunity to pass up. So I ran down to the registrar's office one more time with form in hand... I'm pretty sure they rolled their eyes when they saw me coming! Government was a natural choice for me because it went way past politics and into public assistance. If my Government professors taught me anything it was to take care of the public you serve. That sits well with every single vocation one could hope to go into. For sure, my Government major was a great addition.

Ah, but Literature. I love it. Love it love it love it! Now if you ask me to talk symbolism of Dante, Homer, and Whitman, you will probably get your own blank stare back from me. I honestly couldn't tell you all the time periods of Literature and why they are important to each of us (and somewhere my EngLit professors are screaming!) BUT what I can tell you is that I love Literature because it is relational. And I honestly didn't even realize it to just now. Stories move us, they inspire us, they electrify us. We can relate, be brought to tears, laugh, or ponder. Like a great friend, they can make us sit and examine our own lives. I didn't take Literature to become a teacher, and yes, I'm sure it helped with my future desires to write, but I took it because I like how each story could make me personally grow. I know it might sound crazy, but think about how much more we love speeches and sermons when personal stories are thrown in. Jesus spoke in stories, in parables. They are so deeply relational, and as an intense feeler, I love that.

That said, despite my great degree with classes I loved, despite graduating with high honors, my majors don't have "vocation" written all over them. After 6 months (yes, that's six) of job searching, I have sometimes questioned if I chose the right majors. Literature and Government majors don't seem to be in much demand. After asking me what majors I chose, people then ask me, "Well what do you want to do?" I think they think I don't have a clue what to do next. The truth is, I don't. I do know exactly what I want out of my life, meaning I really feel I know the calling God has given me. However, this calling isn't really a keyword search I can fill into Careerbuilder.com search engine and find a job match. It's been a long road, frustrating at times, as I wait. God is without a doubt teaching me patience.

So if I could go back and change it all, my majors, would I? Never! Although the phrase "Because I like them" might not seem meaningful enough, it is to me because I see what they brought personally to my life. The way we want things to work out doesn't always happen. Actually, in my case, it rarely happens! :) But it is okay because it still works out, but just in a way I never planned. And you know what, for a girl who likes stories, it's better to see God unfold my own personal story before me. I know I make mistakes sometimes; I can even tell you a few I've made so far this morning, but each day, I am learning SO much. Despite its winding lessons, I definitely have taken the road less traveled, as said in Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Less Taken." But I would do it again in a heartbeat, because "it has made all the difference."

The Road Not Taken
By Robert Frost

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.