Personal Narrative: My First Day Of Driving

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My first day of driving class, horrifically, was composed of too little practice and too much time spent on 45 mph roads. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I nearly crashed into another car. After being directed to back out of a parking space, I hesitated from the fear of hitting an unforeseen car. Ironically, the extra time spent hesitating caused a car that only a few seconds before had been a comfortable distance away to speed narrowly past me in a black blur. As the instructor chewed me out, I couldn’t help but think: Isn’t it a good thing to double check? After all, what if I missed something the first time around, and ended up crashing? That’s what ‘look both ways before crossing the street’ was for, right? I passed the course, but the scene in the car was one I brooded on. I had always thought that it was better to be completely sure before doing anything. That’s why I always arrived at violin auditions hours before my scheduled time to practice, and rehearsed anything I wanted to say in my head before I said it. But... I couldn’t help but remember the times where my fingers stuttered on the fingerboard from over practicing, or where I would screw up the courage to say something only to have dallied for too long. Rather than looking before I leapt, I ended up looking for so long that I …show more content…

In response to lessons taught about the consequences of failing to be suitably careful, I had overcompensated with a flaw that was just as harmful. Driven by the fear of failure, I missed out on valuable opportunities, all under the excuse of “I’m not ready yet!” In reality, when will I ever be ready? I can’t rely on life to wait for me to prepare for its dangers. Neither my fear of failure nor my actual moments of failure are avoidable in life; instead, I might as well give myself as many opportunities as I can to

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