26 - 2 - 18

"Two roads diverged into a yellow wood ..." Robert Frost's poem from good old school days had too deep a meaning and it keeps coming back to me, time and again. Until I was about 18 years old most of my decisions seemed quite simple and straightforward. They seemed obvious. May be because I desired something or may be because I was whimsical. I liked Mathematics, I wanted to study engineering at a good institution, I preferred to stay with my parents during my pre-university studies - so I did, I felt I liked her too much - so I told. The first time, that I clearly remember of, when I had no idea what I was going to do was when I was 18 and in my sophomore year of Bachelors program. Peers were talking about technological development, politics, western music and here I was with absolutely no clue about what I would like to do. I wasn't too much into music (or governance or any other stuff for that matter). It seemed (even though I was only in my second year of undergraduate studies) that I was losing time, as if I had fallen into some high velocity stream and I had to decide which of the upcoming things I should hold on to. I took up Mechanical Engineering because I felt like it. I had fascination towards machines but I had absolutely no idea about anything after that. I had not heard about Nanotechnology or MEMS or Radio Astronomy. I didn't know plot of Star Wars until the Force Awakened and a colleague of mine threw the story at me at Godspeed; not that the movie is related to any of this. Just that I was so much not into anything back then. 

I walked a path, I don't know if it is the one less traveled by, but it might seem to be such for some people I can think of. I am 26 now. I have watched some Star Wars movies, I have read a thing or two about the buzzwords in some advanced technologies. Has it changed anything ? Am I sure I am walking in the right direction ? If I could go back to being 18 should I choose another path ? How does one find out what is the next step to take? Which is the path to walk? Is it the one that everybody takes or should you think what difference it makes?