Challenger

You wake up. You look at the clock. Ahhh. 6 a.m. You absentmindlessly tumble out of bed, just like you do every other day of the year. And, like you seemingly do every morning when you wake up for school, you scream, verbatim “Dang it! I flippin’ hate school and I want to go back to bed and nobody’s stopping me!”

But, gasp. You almost forgot that it’s NOT just any other day. It’s your stinking sixteenth birthday. I mean, you’ve been alive for six years longer than a decade! And you know what the best part above all is about turning sixteen years old? Getting your driver’s permit, of course. Getting your permit is probably the most long-awaited event of your sophomore year. You read a whole book on driving in order to study and pass the test. That takes concentration, let alone, dedication. On the morning of your sixteenth birthday you can’t help crack a huge smile. I mean, come on. In a couple hours, you will legally be allowed to sit behind the wheel and cruise the streets...scope out some cute guys or girls...well, with your parents sitting right there beside you that is. But who really cares about that? You’re the one with the power to do whatever you want.

My dad told me he was suprised that I actually knew what I was doing and didn’t crash. I took that as a compliment. I told him all those times I stole his car at 2 a.m. to go “practice” my skills really paid off! That, uh, wasn’t the smartest thing to say, even if it was only a joke.

So maybe you think I’m slightly exaggerated about the whole “permit” issue. But when the time comes for bigger, better, and more important aveues in your life, you’ll look back to the time when it was your first and only sixteenth birthday and probably miss the memory of walking into the overyly tiny testing room, shaking from nervousness as that big, large man stares you down and shoves your test in your hands. The small, cramped desks you’re forced to sit in as you sprint through the questions as fast as you can. The moment when you finally realized you just passed, and that big man with glasses doesn’t seem so scary anymore. In fact, he’s a pretty cool guy.