Everyone’s moment when they transitioned to adulthood is different, like not believing in Santa Claus or sitting in the front seat. The moment that truly transitioned my perspective from childhood to adulthood is getting my first car. That truly changed my life because I am slowly not needing my mom and dad’s help. Obviously, I go to a boarding school, so you would think that I would put that, but I wouldn’t because I still relied on them for more commodities, like driving me around at home. I really figured out how much independence I have when I got my first car, in late June. I got a 2003 Lincoln Navigator, which is a tan color, has shining leather seats, the smell of the new car scent, and an old stereo system. Throughout the year, I still relied on my parents for a ride because I would have to drive their cars, so they would have to be home. If they weren’t home, that meant I couldn’t do anything, and to me, it felt like I was dependant on them and they still had more control over me.
The day I got my car was June 24, 2021 and it was a beautiful day with blue sky, slight breeze, and a hot temperature. I got the car from a family friend whose wife used to use it in the early two thousands and they kept it for all these years, just sitting immobile in the driveway. I was bursting with excitement when my mom, dad, and I went to get the car from him. All I could think about was how much freedom I would have and how I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted to. The first time I had ever driven alone in my car, I started to realize that I was slowly starting to need my parents less. I had always thought of getting my first car as very exciting and how I would never be at home and always be out. In my first car ride, it wasn’t as I expected it to be. I expected to have all my windows down, blasting music and singing, driving to wherever I please, and feeling like I was on top of the world, but in reality I didn’t. All I thought about and realized was that I didn’t really rely on my parents for much.
They had always given me rides, gave me money and all that, but I never went to them for anything anymore. Obviously I would talk to them all the time, but I never really needed their help with anything. Before I got my own car, I had never realized how much I relied on them for things, but now, it was like I was starting to become an adult, and not a child anymore. Obviously I am so happy and grateful for my car and wouldn’t want anything else, but at the same time, I had realized that I’m finally growing up and I have to rely on myself for the things I want, not my parents. My first car ride was going to hockey around thirty minutes away, so that’s a lot of thinking for one sitting. I remember driving through my town, then merging on the highway, but after that, I didn’t remember a thing until I got to hockey. I was so deep in my thoughts, I didn’t remember a\ single moment of the drive. I didn’t know how I had even focused on driving because it felt like I wasn’t even paying attention to the road, but just buried in my thoughts.
“I had never forgotten that car ride because it was probably one of my most important conversations, but with myself.”
I had never forgotten that car ride because it was probably one of my most important conversations, but with myself. To this day, I still don’t know how I am able to drive because I was deep down in my thoughts, which scares me, but also interests me. I do know that I’m not a grown adult yet, but I am pretty close to it, and much closer to adulthood than childhood. That does scare me because I have to do things all by myself, but it also excites me because I get to do things my way, and that’s the way I want to go with life as I enter adulthood. Without getting my first car, I don’t think I would have ever realized how close I am to entering adulthood.