"The Road Not Taken"

So, there was this Chemistry quiz today (national level), and a few of us F5s and U6s took part. There were 5 of us F5s; Faiz, Andrew, Weng Fei, Debbie, and me. The quiz was tough; Weng Fei mimicked getting your neck chopped off after the quiz, Faiz, Debbie and me agreed, while Andrew said it was "okay"...

But that's hardly the point here. Notice how, of the 5 of us, I'm the only one not from the Pure Science class, 5U? When I pointed this out, Faiz jokingly commented :

"Nicholas, you were supposed to be in 5U lah..."

I've heard that line almost 5-7 times already this year, mostly from my teachers. Still, it's the truth. In 5H, I'm unbeatable. The next person in line usually has an average 15-20% less than mine, and I'm pretty much guranteed a place in every Award Ceremony since F4. In fact, since my own class isn't that much of a challenge, I value 1st place in class quite lowly now. I only bother to compare with the other classes in the form. (Especially with the aforementioned "super-class", 5U)

Even my teachers say I should have been in 5U. I'd think if I wanted to, I could have just asked, and I would have gotten it back in F4. But I chose to stay in 5H. Well, in what other class do you get marks for drawing? (Other than art of course) The tradeoff for pursuing a hobby/ambition is that this happens to be the class with the lowest overall average in the Science stream. (Because every other decent architect-potentials in the form decided to study Biology. Or Accounts)

So, separated from friends in a low-rep class. Yet, I have not, nor will I regret my choice. From what I gather, it's been a long time since someone from 5H could go toe-to-toe with the Pure Science classes. And class separation doesn't mean I get passed over for stuff, like today's Chem quiz. Sure, I may not study the somewhat more prestigious Biology, but the world needs its engineers too, doesn't it?

____________________

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.

"The Road Not Taken" - Robert Frost