Practice makes perfect on driver’s test

The morning of my driver’s test, I woke up determined. I thought I would pass on my first try. All the hours of practice had to amount to something, right? After all, I already passed the written test, which was supposedly much more difficult. This couldn’t be much worse—and it wasn’t, at the start that is.

My test was in the early afternoon, so my mom and I decided it would be a good idea to get in some final practice beforehand to polish up my skills. For one whole hour, I changed lanes, made tight right turns, and parked between lines. I was ready. Or so I thought.

I pulled my car up to the designated spot and waited for my examiner. A lady walked out of the building before approaching my car. She assessed it to make sure it was functioning safely before sitting in the passenger seat. She explained the instructions I needed to follow while I listened intently. “Exit through here,” she said, pointing. 

I carefully drove out of the parking lot. I tried my very best to comply with her directions as I continued. I watched out of the corner of my eye as she marked my scoring sheet. With every stroke of her pen, my initial confidence dissipated. 

She then asked me to park along a curb. “Easy enough,” I thought. I aligned my car and reversed in a straight line while using the vehicle’s camera. I wasn’t aware of it then, but I had just made a fatal mistake. It only occurred to me when we drove back to the DMV—my test had felt particularly short.

“You failed,” she stated casually, handing me my score sheet. “You should not use your camera when reversing. You need to look through the back window. You can try again in two weeks.” 

What a silly mistake. Can you believe I forgot that? 

Consequently, I practiced more in the following days, paying extra attention to the minor details and importances of driving.

Exactly two weeks later, I retook the test. My examiner was an elderly man with a kind face who introduced himself as Oliver. I followed each and every one of his instructions; while I noticed he marked me for a few mistakes, I chose to not let it deter me.

It was time to reverse along a curb again. As I began to align my car, a stray cat crossed my path—a good omen, I’d like to think. “Try not to use your camera,” the examiner reminded me. I smiled and thanked him. By now, I learned from my mistake. I looked out my rear window and reversed.

When I drove back to the DMV, he told me I passed!

So if there are any two lessons to take away from my story, they would be: One, never let past experiences or fear of failure keep you from succeeding; and two, always look through your rear window when reversing!