Wednesday was empowering. For the first time, I drove the entire four-hour trek from school to home without my mom or another adult with me. I had my friend from high school with me, but otherwise it was just me, the open road, and some stunning autumn foliage. It’s funny; as a kid I always thought it was corny when people said that having your own car was one of the greatest forms of freedom in the world. Now it’s all making sense.
This time last year, I cowered in fear when I came close to any highway entrance. After realizing how far some of my friends drive just to have their cars at school I realized that there’s no reason I should be so afraid of highways. They’re not much different from any other road you drive on, you just drive faster.
This past summer was my big stepping stone; I had an internship in Princeton that I drove to almost every day. I couldn’t take the train too often because it was expensive, so I bit the bullet and just drove. Driving for an hour there and home was initially nerve-wracking, but after awhile it became really therapeutic. Soon enough, that became routine for me and by the end of the summer, I had even crossed my first state border.
I feel like I can drive anywhere now. My friend from college drove all the way from her home in Oregon and across to Ithaca just so she could have her car at school. She would probably laugh at me if she knew how excited I was about accomplishing this feat, but hey, we’re all different.
