Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Great Escape

                When I was growing up, I could not picture myself driving at all. I never thought I’d actually reach age 16 and get a license. I thought it’d be too hard and too scary for me.

When I was fourteen and got my permit, I still didn’t believe I was ever going to drive.  When I was about 13 ½, I got the book of driving rules form the DOT. I was really excited at first and started to read it, but then I got bored and it sat in my room until a week before my 14th birthday. When April 5th finally drew near, I decided to read the rulebook, but never actually did. About two days before my birthday I flipped through the book and looked at what all the road signs meant and things like that, but that was the extent of my studying. The first time I took the test, I failed. My dad was really mad at me and he almost didn’t allow me to retake it the next day. I convinced him that I just was distracted by the other people and read the questions wrong so he took me back. I memorized the questions from the first try and didn’t miss a single one on my retake.

I put off driver’s ed for a long time. I drove every once in a while with my dad or my brothers, but that was still hardly ever. I took drivers ed 3 months after my 16th birthday. I was so scared the first time I had to drive with an instructor. I believe I had to drive six times with and instructor and was so scared for every one of them. The day I was done with driver’s ed, I got my license. I still was not allowed to drive alone for a few weeks, and I didn’t want to. The first time I drove alone was to my physical for sports. I was so scared because: 1. it was my first time driving alone, 2. I was driving my grandpa’s brand new truck, 3. I had no idea how to navigate downtown Cedar Rapids. It was a pretty traumatic experience, but both I and the car made it out just fine.

Now, I love driving. I don’t drive a lot, and I never drive to school. I think that’s why I like it so much. My mother is a seamstress and is home all of the time so I’m never alone. I love getting a break during driving. It’s just me in the car. I’m finally alone. I can think about whatever I want, listen to whatever music I want, and I don’t have to worry about my mom getting mad at me. Driving always puts me in a good mood because that’s when I can get away from the rest of the world and focus on me. I control where I go and what I do. There is no pressure. (498 words)

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