Picture this: you’re turning 16 tomorrow, your DMV permit test is already scheduled, and a pile of identification is on the counter. You’re excited for another year but most of all, to get your license. In this town, driving is a major advantage. After all, who wouldn’t want to have the ability to get Starbucks before school on a chilly Thursday, or bloop in between studying.
With the amount of extracurriculars and activities going on in Westport, the freedom of having your license can be a huge stress reliever and time saver for hard working highschoolers. Yet at what cost? The process of getting your license is less of a learning experience, and more of a painstaking and expensive marathon.
As someone with a late birthday, just going through the process now, I have heard nothing short of horror stories about Drivers Ed.
First, you have to pick a program, like Next Street or Fresh Green Light, and pay a hefty fee of up to $1000. To be able to get your license a long and painful four months after your 16th birthday, you have to complete 15 two-hour Zoom sessions and four two-hour in person driving lessons.
Now this may not seem like a lot, but take into consideration everything else that is on a high school student’s plate. SAT prep, extracurriculars, philanthropy, sports, a social life and something that most staples students barely get… a break.
To be expected to sit through 30 hours of driver’s education in roughly 120 days does not seem like a daunting task. But when you add in factors like these Zooms being after school, during activity hours, or on weekends when you are desperately trying to relax, it seems a little more difficult.
That is not even taking into account how strict these Zoom calls are. You can not do homework, read a book, look at your phone, or practically do anything but sit and listen to the boring, repetitive lecture on why not to drink and drive.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure some of this information is important. But you just can’t convince me there’s 30 hours worth of important information.
For anyone who has completed this process and has come out the other side with a licence, kudos to you! And to anyone like me, just now starting or not yet started, best of luck!
