Driving

by Marlena

Very high levels of caution generally don’t make for a full or interesting life, and thus I am slowly learning to drive.

I never really wanted to learn how to drive before and I had many excellent reasons:

• Driving is bad for the environment.

• I couldn’t actually afford a car or gas so what was the point?

• I was staying fit by walking everywhere.

But the truth was, I was afraid and I excused myself from trying.

For a while.

I got my permit and took an entirely unnecessary Driver’s Ed class last summer. (‘Is a deer a stationary object? I mean, like, if it’s standing still?’ is actually a question that was asked). Technically, I could have had my license for a while now, if I actually had been trying. My dad is teaching me and, to his credit, he is quite calm when I am behind the wheel. We have been going to the middle school parking lot near my house. Today we went to a neighborhood and I drove in circles for a while. I need 60 hours of driving and 3 in-car sessions to finally take the test for my license. I have decided that it is my goal to drive a few hours a week so I can go for my in-cars in June and then test for my license in August. I at least need to somehow get my license before college.