Here I am before you now, one year older. I have in my eyes a vision of what I would like for my future, even as far up as after college. Nothing is specifically laid out; I just know what I would like to end up happening.
So I am now officially 16. In terms of females, that means I am now a woman. In terms of the law, I have to wait a couple of years. Ah well.
I have been taking Driver's Ed for the past week. It's this program my town has where there are a total of five classes from 9:00 - 3:30. It's almost as long as a school day, but it feels a hell of a lot shorter. Maybe that's because I get an extra hour of sleep (because of the weather today I got an extra two hours). Sure, it sometimes feels like a bit of a drag, but you will never catch me saying that it's a waste of my time. I don't even care that I had to go to class on my birthday because I know that I am gaining knowledge that will become a part of me for the rest of my life. After this, I am going to get my permit, then I'll be driving on the road! The actual road, with other people and rules. It's like being thrown into the middle of society. I'm a bit frightened, but more excited.
My dad let me drive his car for the first time. Being that I do not yet have my permit, and being the responsible parent that he is, he took us to a nearby parking lot to practice the basic driving forward, accelerating, turning, and I even managed to park! After the experience, I evaluated what I just went through, as my mind tends to do. I realized that the idea of driving had been much scarier than actually taking it out for a spin. After a day, I really want to do it again! I deeply enjoyed the sense of entitlement that came forth when I placed my hands on the wheel. I have never heard any of my permit-owning friends be so excited about driving, but I really can't see why not. It's freaking amazing!
There have been stories told to us by our instructor about parents who immediately take their children out on busy roads. The child then proceeds to become really stressed, and then never wants to go out on the roads again. Knowing this now, I have told my dad to take baby steps. We will start with nice calm areas of town and work our way up. Plus, my dad pointed out, the back roads will give me good practice of hills. I plan to become a safe and defensive driver. Not only that: I plan to have fun while being a safe and defensive driver. In the words of my 7th grade English teacher Mr. Reynolds, there is no feeling like that of driving. (I'm remembering all the way back to 7th grade, so I don't think that's exactly how he worded it, but based on his usual speaking voice, I can guess that it was pretty close). I mean, what could you possibly compare the feeling of controlling a vehicle that takes you faster than walking? I haven't found it yet. I can't even come up with a good analogy to even tell anyone what driving is like.
So with these final thoughts I bid thee adieu. May your journey be safe and infinitely joyous. (I'm gonna use this for now on whenever I can't find an adequate way to sum everything up).
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