“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference”
Robert Frost

It was the spring of 1979. I would be graduating from Santa Clara University in June. I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in teaching. I had already experienced a one-year full-time teaching job at Saint Augustine’s College in the Bahamas. And for the past three years, while completing my undergraduate degree, I had been teaching part-time at Bellarmine College Prep in San José. With graduation approaching, I knew it was time to begin applying for a teaching position for the 1979-80 academic year.

I dutifully sent out applications to a number of schools. I had already been informed that there were no open positions for the coming year at Bellarmine, so all they could offer me was to continue with the two classes per day I’d been teaching the previous three years. I needed a full-time job, and I knew, in my heart, exactly where I wanted to teach.

When a letter arrived from Mr. Lou Adderley at Saint Augustine’s College, welcoming me back to the SAC faculty for the 1979-80 school year, I was ecstatic. I thought I was so ready to return to the island to continue teaching and coaching there. In the weeks following my receipt of that letter, however, something didn’t feel right.

A retired friend, who owned multiple properties in Santa Clara, had offered to rent one his homes to me — a cozy two-bedroom, one bath house with a front porch and large backyard — for only $200/month. The going rate at the time for such a rental was at least $750/month. I also had a reliable car — a 1972 Volkswagen bug. I began to feel a bit conflicted. In Nassau, I would have to find a place to live and a vehicle to get around the island. Then came the unexpected phone call.

The principal at Saint Christopher School in San José, a school to which I had not applied for a teaching position, asked me if I would consider teaching junior high literature the following year. My name had been given to her by my friend, Al Trigueiro. Al had been teaching fifth grade at Saint Christopher for several years, but was moving on to a new job. Sister Eileen’s call caught me off-guard, but I didn’t say no to her offer. I asked for a little time to think about it. In the following days, using the tools of Ignatian discernment I had learned, it was clear that I was being called, literally, to teach at Saint Christopher School.

Mr. Adderley, one of the kindest people I’ve ever known, was quite understanding when I wrote back to him to explain my change of plans. He wished me well. I felt guilty for not returning to SAC, but I knew in my heart that Saint Christopher was the right choice at that time.

I’ve often wondered,… what if? What if I had accepted the job at Saint Augustine’s College? What if I had moved back to Nassau, found a place to live and a car to drive, and had lived out my adult years in Nassau? I was 25 years old at that time. How would my life have been different than it turned out to be?

I guess I’ll never know the answer to these questions. I made a decision in the spring of 1979 which set me on the course I’ve experienced in the 50+ years since that time. As Robert Frost described in his poem The Road Not Taken, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I…” Well, this is where the comparison ends, because I, I took the one which was more convenient at the time, and that has made all the difference.