a hard row to hoe

Definition

(Expression) Difficult path. An old farming saying that refers to after a crop is in, the farming family had to go into the fields and row by row weed and remove large rocks, crush large dirt clods so the crops would be better.
This reference is so apropos for young people today in that the decisions they make from the groups the hang with who influence their life paths they take often too early. These permanently affect the future they will and won’t have.