Personal Narrative: The Driver's Test Of Man

It’s the biggest test known to man: the driver’s test. At sixteen, starving for the slightest taste of freedom, it seems like your one and only lifeline to the great unknown. It’s intimidating, but I was ready. Failure was not an option to me. Walking in, I expected to pass with flying colors. After all, I’d been practicing! I got all my hours in, even got all my night driving hours in. I was beyond prepared… or so I thought. I got in the car with the driver instructor and suddenly all the blood in my body rushed to my head. I couldn’t think straight. I was blanking on all the information that I knew I had been prepared for. Where’s the rear defroster? Did the hazard lights button move? Wait, this is the gas pedal right? Fear overcame me. I
I thought long and hard on the things I did not do correctly and I improved my driving habits. I walk in again, but this time not as confident as the last. Maybe my confidence was over-kill? Who knows. I hop back in the car with an instructor for the second time and already, I know it’s different. The tension isn’t existent, the vibes are positive, my mind is clear. I’m giving myself my own little pep talk. I used a blinker for every turn I made, no matter how redundant it felt. I knew where every control center was in my vehicle, even if I felt I would never use it. I impressed my instructor with my parallel parking whipping skills. But most importantly, I was cool, confidant, and… ready. It took me the first failure to realize what I needed to improve on. And honestly, I don’t even consider the first time to be a fail. Had I actually got my license that day, that would have been the ultimate failure! I came out on top because I am a better, safer and more improved driver today, than I was the first time I walked into that office, not even being sixteen for twenty-four hours. Looking back now, I realize that failure was, in fact, what sculpted me for my