I am 17 and a half years old, I am a senior girl, and I don’t have my license.
I say this and people look at me like I have two heads, but I can guarantee that I am completely sane.
I got my permit on March 16, 2011. It is set to expire in just five months, on my 18th birthday. I have been driving for considerably longer than most who have their licenses.
It would be convenient at times to have my license, that’s for sure. Yes, a friend picks me up every morning so I can avoid the dreadful bus. Yes, I do have to call my mom for a ride home from practice every day. And yes, I can only drive with a parent in the passenger seat.
But it’s really not as bad as people make it out to be. I am never in a car alone. I don’t have to worry about paying for gas. And in less than six months, I will be 18, meaning that I won’t have to wait a whole year to be legal to drive my friends.
It’s not for no reason that I can’t drive.
“I just have a few classes to finish up.”
I started taking classes at Top Driver two summers ago, but couldn’t finish them that summer. Now, at what is now All Star Driver, I have been trying to fit the make-up classes in. Over the past year, I have taken an average of about 1 class a month and I currently have three classes to fit in and one, two-hour driving lesson.
“I still need to perfect parking.”
Without a doubt, I have been driving long enough to be comfortable behind the wheel. Everything that used to cause me stress- changing lanes, merging onto the highway- is no longer as big of a deal. But parking is a whole different story. Pulling into a spot is often difficult; I tend to trade a longer walk through the parking lot to parking between two cars. Backing in…? Parallel parking…? There is never a time when I pull in the first time to see white lines on both sides of the car.
I don’t think I would call these excuses. They are true reasons. Between track practice, homework, and other activities each afternoon, I haven’t been able to finish everything. And of all the evils, not being able to drive is the least of them.
Even so, I know that when I am finally alone in the driver’s seat, it will be the most exhilarating feeling in the world. I will be independent and free to go anywhere I want. And in the glory of it all, I know I will be both a Top and an All Star Driver.
