As soon as their 16th birthday, some cannot wait.
Driving is a thing you learn how to do, usually during your sophomore or junior year. Getting behind the wheel for the first time is both fun and scary. In other words, it’s a big rite of passage. After all, you were probably ready to fall asleep and dream about driving instead of attending the boring classes (I didn’t only because my instructor had some great stories to tell). Many of your friends with their permits (or those who already have their licenses) tell you how much of a blast it is – or the opposite where they go on about people driving in traffic.
As someone with their permit on their way to get their license, I would say driving is fun- for the most part. That being said, the longer you drive (relative to when you first start), it gets less exciting.
There are many things I like and dislike about driving. Half the time I cannot wait to drive around with my parents – not my friends yet. The other half I dread driving knowing I’ll be in for a good time with lots of traffic and a questionable amount of stale green lights (green lights that as soon as you are close enough, go to yellow, and then red, stopping you just as you thought you could finally go).
All parents are cautious when it comes to letting their kids drive. However, I feel many kids my age could agree that having your mom or dad be on you for minor things can get tiresome. If you stop just a smidge past the stop line or pull out of a spot a bit too fast for their liking, they might flip out. While the cautious approach to them is normal, to us new drivers it’s capital A annoying.
In addition, the thought of getting your first car is something that crosses the mind of many upperclassmen in Oakmont. Though I do not yet have my license, I am sure that getting a car for myself will be my priority right after.
Past my thoughts, let’s get the thoughts of other Oakmont students who drive. I made a survey to which students who had access to The Oakmontior had 10 days to respond. While making the survey, I predicted that the longer you drive, the less excited you might feel about driving. Fresh from the poll, the results can be found below.
On The Oakmonitor website, Oakmont students from grades 10-12 were surveyed on how they felt about driving. They were asked what grade they were in, and if they liked or disliked driving.
100% of sophomores said they enjoyed driving, and none said they disliked driving. Many sophomores get their permits within that year (and get their license in the summer), which would explain why they all said they enjoyed driving.
For juniors, it is not the same. 91.3% of juniors said they enjoy driving. On the other hand, 8.7% said they do not like driving. As a junior, I enjoy driving, but I suppose the sophomore-year “driving hype” wears off for some.
Seniors didn’t fall too far from the juniors’ results. 87.5% of seniors said they enjoyed driving. By senior year students most likely already have or got their license, so driving is nothing new to them at that point, unlike the eager sophomores. This would explain why 12.5% said they didn’t enjoy driving.
In conclusion, the data gathered from the poll supported my prediction that driving gets less excitable the longer you drive. Being able to drive is great, but it becomes much more integrated into your life the older you get (I mean, seniors literally get their own parking spots for crying out loud). While I personally enjoy driving, I, like many others, am starting to feel it getting repetitive.
That all being said, I’m still going to grin from ear to ear every time I see a speed limit sign of 50 MPH or over.
