Little Lifestyle Update | I Passed My Driving Test

Yesterday morning I passed my driving test! It feels like a big moment in my life and I'm still over the moon about ii. You could argue that I haven't actually been out in the car by myself yet but I have this driving license for the rest of my life (touch wood). So to mark this occasion I thought I would talk about what learning to drive was like for me. I've read quite a few posts on what a struggle learning to drive is but if you persevere then it will pay off. Actually my experience couldn't have been more different.

Initially my boyfriend insured me to drive his car. We went out on very quiet country roads and he taught me how to change the gears and some basics of steering too. He is a pretty calm person so driving with him turned out to be easy no matter how nervous I was. Without him doing that I don't think I would ever of had the confidence to call a driving instructor. Scott even let me drive back from Glen Clova once, which was pretty cool.

I had my first driving lesson on Monday the 27th of August, despite waking up 15 minutes before, it went really well. I was already confident with the gear changes so we moved on quickly to looking at junctions. It went so that I booked my theory test for the next week. I found revising for the theory test fairly easy with the help my of the AA book. I passed first time and only got two questions wrong.

I had a driving lesson every week for the rest of the summer then once I went back to university I went home for one roughly every two weeks. I took longer breaks over Christmas and exam time when I just didn't have the time to go home for them. Luckily I didn't loose any of the things I'd learned and still felt confident.

The two things I struggled with most were junctions and starting mock tests. It took me week to learn how to do junctions properly - my brain just couldn't remember how to prepare for them. All the gear changes, signalling and braking was a mad rush and then I didn't look properly. Finally something clicked in my head and I never looked back. Once I'd learned all the individual elements I started doing mock tests with my instructor, which I was awful at. From somewhere nerves kicked in and I picked up LOADS of minors and a handful of serious faults too. This didn't get better for weeks and weeks which started to get me a little down.

At the start of February this year my parents bought a small car that I could finally be insured on. I love the little race red fiesta and it really marked a turning point in my driving. I don't think either of my parents were too happy at first but gradually my driving became smoother and I started making better decisions.

Originally my test was booked for May but the DVLA had to move it so the next date was July. There was a long gap in my lessons then because they were kind of pointless when I didn't really need taught anymore. I had to move the July test date too and because of the small area I live in the next test date was in November. The thought horrified me and upset me. I was ready and I wanted to do it asap. I didn't have another driving lesson between July and the end of October but thankfully when I saw my instructor again he was still pleased with my driving and thought it would be okay to only see him the Saturday before my test.

I didn't tell anyone other than my parents and my boyfriend because I just didn't want to talk about it. I felt so sick the night before and the morning of my test. I knew I couldn't let the nerves get to me or I'd do badly. When I got behind the wheel though I felt calmer and the practise before went well.

Somehow I managed to keep calm all the way through the test by doing lots of deep breaths. I got a turn in the road, which is by far the easiest manoeuvre, but I was painfully aware that he wasn't writing anything down in this notepad (or laughing at any of my jokes). When we got back to the car park I couldn't think of anything I'd done which would have caused me to fail and relief flooded through me when he said I'd passed. I only got one minor fault too...

I can legally drive a car on my own! Since day one I've never got flustered or panicked behind the wheel. I actually feel pretty confident so I'm sure this has set me up well for driving on my own. I can't wait - a trip to dominos for a treat for my amazing boyfriend is definitely in order.

On a side note my driving instructor did accused me of being a risk taker so if you see me I'd avoid me... especially at roundabouts!