“Do you want to learn how to drive today?”
I had just gotten my learner’s permit a couple of days ago. Ever since I passed the learner’s permit test, I couldn’t wait to learn how to drive. At that point, the school year just started, so I had difficulty finding a day to begin practicing how to drive. I had to squeeze in about an hour of time in my schedule to practice with my dad. Fortunately, I lived next to a big parking lot, so finding an open place to practice wasn’t so difficult.
On the day that my dad and I agreed upon for me to start practicing, I felt so much excitement and joy. For years I have longed to learn how to drive. Not only was it a skill that I was interested in learning, driving also gives me more freedom. With a driver’s license, I no longer have to ask my parents to drive me around if I have to go somewhere.
The minute that school ended, I went to find my dad to start practicing right away. On our way to the parking lot, the excitement I felt before soon turned to nervousness because I didn’t want to make a big mistake and damage the car. Once we got to the parking lot and found an open area with no cars, my dad let me sit in the driver’s seat.
The first thing my dad told me to do was to familiarize myself with the gas and brake pedals. He told me to slowly press on the gas to get used to the car’s acceleration. Carefully, I pressed down on the acceleration. For a moment, nothing happened. When I decided to press the gas a little harder, the car lurched forward, causing me to panic. I slammed on the brakes, causing the car to screech to a halt. Once I settled down, my dad told me to try again, but to be more cautious this time.
Being more deliberate and wary of sudden movements, I slowly pressed down on the gas. This time, the car accelerated a lot more smoothly. When I drove to the end of the parking lot, I slowly pressed the brakes until the car rolled to a stop. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. That went a lot more smoothly, I thought.
I kept driving back and forth in the parking lot until I felt comfortable with the gas and brake pedals. After I had enough practice, my dad told me that the next step is to practice steering. What he had me do was drive the car in a circle, where I would drive down the parking lot until I reached the end, make a U-Turn, and drive back.
At first, I couldn’t get the steering angle correctly as I kept making too wide of a turn or too narrow of a turn. Each time I messed up, I felt more discouraged. However, I told myself that this is just a learning process and I’ll quickly get used to it. Sure enough, my steering got better and better with each lap completed.
Once I felt pretty good about my steering, my dad said it was time to head home. On the way back, I felt happy that I took my first steps in learning how to drive. It made me look forward to the day that I’ll be ready enough to drive on the road. But before that, there will still be a lot to learn and practice.
I had just gotten my learner’s permit a couple of days ago. Ever since I passed the learner’s permit test, I couldn’t wait to learn how to drive. At that point, the school year just started, so I had difficulty finding a day to begin practicing how to drive. I had to squeeze in about an hour of time in my schedule to practice with my dad. Fortunately, I lived next to a big parking lot, so finding an open place to practice wasn’t so difficult.
On the day that my dad and I agreed upon for me to start practicing, I felt so much excitement and joy. For years I have longed to learn how to drive. Not only was it a skill that I was interested in learning, driving also gives me more freedom. With a driver’s license, I no longer have to ask my parents to drive me around if I have to go somewhere.
The minute that school ended, I went to find my dad to start practicing right away. On our way to the parking lot, the excitement I felt before soon turned to nervousness because I didn’t want to make a big mistake and damage the car. Once we got to the parking lot and found an open area with no cars, my dad let me sit in the driver’s seat.
The first thing my dad told me to do was to familiarize myself with the gas and brake pedals. He told me to slowly press on the gas to get used to the car’s acceleration. Carefully, I pressed down on the acceleration. For a moment, nothing happened. When I decided to press the gas a little harder, the car lurched forward, causing me to panic. I slammed on the brakes, causing the car to screech to a halt. Once I settled down, my dad told me to try again, but to be more cautious this time.
Being more deliberate and wary of sudden movements, I slowly pressed down on the gas. This time, the car accelerated a lot more smoothly. When I drove to the end of the parking lot, I slowly pressed the brakes until the car rolled to a stop. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. That went a lot more smoothly, I thought.
I kept driving back and forth in the parking lot until I felt comfortable with the gas and brake pedals. After I had enough practice, my dad told me that the next step is to practice steering. What he had me do was drive the car in a circle, where I would drive down the parking lot until I reached the end, make a U-Turn, and drive back.
At first, I couldn’t get the steering angle correctly as I kept making too wide of a turn or too narrow of a turn. Each time I messed up, I felt more discouraged. However, I told myself that this is just a learning process and I’ll quickly get used to it. Sure enough, my steering got better and better with each lap completed.
Once I felt pretty good about my steering, my dad said it was time to head home. On the way back, I felt happy that I took my first steps in learning how to drive. It made me look forward to the day that I’ll be ready enough to drive on the road. But before that, there will still be a lot to learn and practice.