Learning how to drive may have been one of the most inconvenient things I've ever had to do in order for things to become more convenient. You fear for your life on the streets, you spend money to learn the "basics" over a Driver's Education course with poorly constructed questions, and it takes at least a couple hours to visit the DMV to take the permit test and again to actually drive to complete your journey of getting a license. And even if you do all these things, you may not even get your license.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the entire process is unnecessary and we should all just automatically get our licenses when we turn 16. However, there were certain times when I got lazy or simply tired of everything saying, "Yup. This is it. I'm just never going to get my license." Getting through the online portion wasn't too hard, but I found myself thinking "Why is this even a question?" multiple times. Why did I have to memorize who invented the windshield? Who knows.
After passing the permit test at the DMV, the most difficult part was probably getting in a car with my parents. I was always incredibly stressed because my mom had a bad habit of screaming if you braked a little too hard, and my dad would grab the handle and brace himself as if I was going to crash while driving 15 mph in a residential neighborhood. I used to hate driving because my I would tense up my shoulders and grip the steering wheel so hard that my neck and back would ache the next day. That's how unnecessarily intense it felt.
It took a really long time before I was comfortable driving, and I had never experienced truer words when my friend told me that driving is way easier without your parents. After spending hours of learning about car parts I would never need to know, driving with my parents and an instructor, and actually taking the test. I passed.
To be honest, the main reason as to why I planned on getting my license as soon as possible was due to the fact that my mom got tired of driving me to school every morning. Just the thought of not having to wake up at 6 a.m. every day just to drive 10 minutes back and forth from home to school sounded amazing to her. And she wasn't wrong, I wanted to get my license to stop inconveniencing her as well. However, that doesn't mean I can't say that I strongly disliked this painfully long and annoying process.
A word of advice is to just try and get through it as fast as possible. Luckily, driving came a little bit more instinctual to me than my older sister so it wasn't too bad. Just don't ask me to parallel park. For those that might find driving more scary, practice makes perfect. Just offer to drive short distances like to the grocery store or get some gas when the chance arrives. Try to drive a lot locally and become comfortable with it before working up to going on the freeway.
Don't be afraid to fail, but stay cautious and safe.
P.S. Make sure your drivers license picture looks good, because you're going to look at that for 5 years. I definitely have some regrets when I have to pull mine out, so good luck with that. I hope you're more photogenic than I am.
