Ticket To Ride

In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the soldiers must carry a variety of things. Essentials like food, water, and a weapon, to the not so essential like yoyo’s, condoms, and marijuana. The thing I remember carrying was a little essential, and a little not so essential.

In any modern day city, like Boston, or New York, there are many ways to travel. You can take the subway, catch a bus, or drive through incredibly packed streets. I live in the small town of Minot, Maine. The last time I checked, we don’t have a bus line, and we definitely don’t have an underground subway. The only way to get around in rural Maine is to drive, and because of this I got my driver’s license in the spring of my sophomore year at Hebron.

To speed up the license process kids can go to drivers ed and get their driving permit at 15, and take their driver’s test at 16. My parents were adamant that I get my license as soon as possible, and I too was excited to be licenced. As I grew up, I began to harbor a thirst for independence so as not to worry about how I would get from point A to point B. I can remember the first time that I sat in the driver’s seat with Mr. Dingley, the driver’s ed teacher, in the spring of my freshman year at Hebron Academy. I was bursting with excitement and also confidence, mostly because I had driven before and knew what to expect, but I was also scared. I was just used to driving from my house to my grandmother’s just down the street, and I always drove the same car.

“What if this car was incredibly different than the one I was used to?” “What if I jerked the car a lot?”, and worst of all,“What if I crash?”.  

Long story short, it turned out okay. The car wasn’t that different. It took a little time to get used to, but I didn’t swerve, and most importantly, I didn’t crash into anything.  After 10 Driver’s Ed classes and 10 hours of physical driving, it was time for the permit test. If I passed this test, I would receive my permit, allowing me to drive a car on the road as long as an adult was with me. I took the test on Sunday morning, and it got graded right then and there. Mr. Dingley went up to the board after all the tests had been handed in, and began writing numbers. 41, 45, 43, 40, and 49. I believe the test was out of 50 points, and an 80% was required to pass making 40 the lowest possible score. I was the 49 on the board. I was one point away from getting a perfect score.

Six months later I went to the DMV for my driver’s license test. I failed. I tried so hard, but it was impossible. I had to stay at an exact speed, and pay attention to everything going on. Not to mention my nerves which were, to put it mildly, all over the place. The good news is that three months later I went back to try again. This time I was more ready than I have ever been for anything else in my entire life. I was determined to get that license, and I did.

Surprisingly it was a very anti-climactic moment. I was sitting in the car thinking that I hadn’t gotten my license when the guy said, “Congratulations!” I was speechless for a moment, and then asked, “I got it?”. He said, “Yes you did!”. He gave me a slip of paper that said,

“Temporary License – This is a valid Maine State License until the owner of License receives his/her permanent license in the mail.” It had other information on it as well, but that was the main gist.

Since I have gotten my license my life has changed dramatically. I was able to get a summer job because I could drive myself there, and I now drive to and from school, not having to worry if someone will be on time to pick me up. Most importantly, having my license has raised my level of maturity. I carry it everywhere I go, no matter what. Even if I’m not driving. Driving itself has taught me responsibility by following speed limits and road signs, when I could just as easily not follow the rules. To this day I have never been pulled over, going to show that hard work pays off, whether you’re a businessman, soldier, or a kid trying to get his license.