Driving is great: you sleep through Driver’s Ed, cheat on the test to get your permit, lie on the 45-hour qualification to get your license, put on a confident smile during behind the wheel, and nine months later you’re on the road, headed to that snazzy new food court with your hot date. Maybe you cut some people off, ignore a few road signs, but no big deal, right?
It’s only a matter of life or death. As we develop into young adults, we are exposed to greater freedoms than we once knew. With each milestone comes a shiny object of congratulation, a reward for your coming of age, usually in the form of independence. We grow older, hopefully maturing in parallel, and obtain these coveted rights, we must remember to accept the responsibility married to it.
Recently I journeyed to a wonderful ice skating rink with free, convenient parking right in front of the busy center. How fortunate! The ice, a privilege in itself to a six-year-old audience, was a joyous time— that is, until I discovered the car was gone. Yes, laugh, because I was towed. I’d be laughing right along, tearfully so, if not for the price tag attached to that mishap.
Adolescence is an already awkward transitional period (albeit a necessary one). While we enjoy the very freedoms that make it bearable, we cannot forget the promises made to ourselves and our guardians when we received them. Now, we can enjoy the buffers that allow us to make these silly mistakes, but it is essential that we learn from them. The first time.
The beauty in the teenage years is the gradual exposure to the world around us we are allowed. Inch by inch, we arrive at ‘adulthood,’ whatever that is, and as we roll along, our skin becomes thicker, and problems that once seemed alien transform into solutions. We do this by accepting the responsibility that comes with each right.
By that same token, however, do not be so eager to take on the million possibilities of adulthood that you cease to be a teenager. We may all lead our own lives, but additional liberties, whether they be your role in the school, within your family, and most notably your civil duties will come; just decide early to be prepared for them and not shocked by the sudden change, also developing a sense of respect for what they entail.