Robert Frost once wrote a poem about taking the road less traveled. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. I think it was a prerequisite that every high school English teacher had to have it posted somewhere in their room.

The poem is a testament to individualism and forging your own path. “Thinking outside the box” is what the corporate executives call it. But what about the other road? The road more traveled by, yet less talked about?

Obviously, Frost was saying most people take the road more traveled. Otherwise it wouldn’t be more traveled. That road is the easy path, the well-known path. Overall, I think the poem is a metaphor for not taking the easy way out.

As a society, I think we took the more popular road, paved it, opened it up to four lanes and put in tollbooths. It’s the main road that we follow. We look for the easiest way to accomplish something, rather than the best way.

Some kids I know passed the majority of high school with cheat sheets and SparkNotes. And I’m sure many students are still guilty today in college. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pretending to be some religious figure ready to rain down sulfur here. I’ve used SparkNotes or an equivalent. I think all of us have taken the easy way out at least once in our lives. My problem is with the way it affects everyone.

Let’s look at professional sports, for example. Right now, performance-enhancing drugs are running rampant and ruining sports. Athletes are bulking up and America just cheers as home runs get longer and longer. What kind of message does this send to kids? It says taking the easy way out and being lazy gets your name in the record books. I can see the next generation of sports video games now — with a new feature where you can get special cream from your personal trainer to increase your stats.

Shawne Merriman, an all-pro linebacker, defensive rookie of the year and former first round draft pick for the San Diego Chargers was recently busted for steroid use. Merriman also left college early to go to the NFL. Talk about the easy path. His lack of work ethic could mean the end of his career. And this was a promising player, who many talked about going to the hall of fame one day.

Politicians are another example. Rather than look at the best interests of the people, and work together for the good of everybody, they just look to appease the most people so they can get re-elected. They take the easy way out, they vote along party lines and shape their ideas to fit the mold so they get their party’s endorsement.

Our nation goes a million miles an hour and we’re all about shortcuts. We love fast food and can’t live without high-speed Internet and instant communication. Hell, we have drive through wedding chapels. Basically, we’re impatient. Some of my friends talk about how they want to start making lots of money right out of college.

For me personally, I think college should be more about getting a good education than learning the quickest way to a fortune-or maybe I’m just biased because journalists make zilch.

The national mentality is to get ahead and look out for number one, but we don’t care how we get there. Look at the film industry. Occasionally there’s a good movie every once in awhile but mostly it’s a race to see who can churn out the most crap the fastest. We’re about quantity, not quality.

It’s not called the human race for nothing. We place a strange emphasis on being the first to do something. Our country sank millions of dollars into the space race to beat the Soviets to the moon. Why not instead be the first to do it well? The Russians built a space station and that has contributed much more to astronomy than being the first to set foot on the moon. If it was a giant leap for mankind, why did it matter if it was us or them who got there first? I understand the underlying competition between Communism and the idea of national pride motivated us to be the first into space. But when it boils down to it, we spent a lot of money doing something that was going to be done regardless of our involvement.

I think there’s something still to be said for quality, for getting something out of life besides money and material wealth. There’s something deeper.

Call me a romantic, but I think life is about the journey. And taking shortcuts kills it. I hope Barry Bonds sleeps well at night knowing that although he has the record for most home runs, he’ll never come close to earning the respect people have for Babe Ruth. He’s a national icon. That’s quality.

There’s a part of me that wants to give up my dream of becoming a journalist and go into something safer, with more money and a better future, like public relations. I think that’d be the more traveled road. For now anyways, I’m going to stick to my dream. Nobody remembers the public relations people. Even though it’s a ton of work for very little visible reward, I think that taking the harder path may make a difference in the long run. Robert Frost was a writer, and he seemed pretty happy.

Two words diverged in a wood, and I’m,

I’m taking the one less traveled by.

We’ll see where it takes me.

Justin Marble, a freshman in the College of Communication, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].