~JcZw

The prayers that I prayed for the past half a year came through with the culmination of driving today.

Then again, I should have known that if I could have gotten into Medicine after such a absymal interview, anything was possible. Silly me, not to have thought of that earlier.

What I needed last night, really, was for someone to just say "I know you can do it" and hammer all my doubts into something concrete, whether it was ultimately true or not. And of course, I did get it, amongst the welter of messages I received last night, messages which I appreciate very much, one and all.

Last night was like a minor version of the night before enlistment. Slept at 11.30 pm, and woke at 4.30, and couldn't go back to sleep again heh kept thinking about yellow boxes, lane changes and what not.

The warm up at 8 didn't do much for my peace of mind either, with me banging one kerb during directional change, and not daring to put my foot down along Ubi Ave 4.

But when push came to shove, I guess my body delievered the goods =) It definitely wasn't conscious thought, cos I was in a terrible state. My mouth was dry, I could only croak out "yes sir"s, "no sir"s and "sorry sir"s. Happily, I had a rather benign tester, who, like my instructor, talked quite a bit on his phone, but gave me plenty of warning before each turning.

It was during directional change, again (my most feared subject) that the foul up occured. When I was reversing the blue Lancer gave an almighty shudder and died. In that driving seat, I nearly died as well, because I thought I had hit a kerb. But it was just a simple stall ("Insufficient acceleration", wrote the instructor) so I could continue.

Parallel parking was done at my least favourite location next to the ramp, but everything went well, as did reverse parking, and my favourite S- and crank-course. Getting out was a bit tricky, and my tester made me E-brake.

E-brake, or emergency brake, as it is formally called, is one of the most fun actions to be incorporated into a driving test. It includes one of the most exciting movements one can do in a moving vehicle: That of jamming a pedal, excluding the clutch, into the floorboard. Whether one gets it right and presses the brake, or gets it wrong and presses the accelerator, it always sends a rush of blood to the brain. I had never done it before, and most of my friends have never been tested on it, but it's a category on the scoring sheet so I guess it had to happen to someone. In fact, my instructor only formally told me of its existence the night before.

As it was, my tester was very nice to kinda give me warning, saying "Jonathan..... STOP! *Bang*" When he called my name (and happily, my name is pretty long) my foot was already moving from accelerator to brake, while the triceps surae of my other leg started to become itchy ready to slam the clutch into the floor. Which I did successfully. The G-forces made my eyes want to pop out, and any screeching of the brakes was drowned out by my bag with the attached water bottle crashing from the passenger's seat onto the ground. But very satisfying nonetheless =)

The road part, as I thought was more smooth. Once I could change out of first gear heh I felt much more confident. My route was pretty easy, except that the heavy vehicles were out in force, but nothing spectacular happened (thankfully).

I didn't realise how much the short 45 min test had taken until the tester bounded out of the car saying "Follow me" and I opened the door, stepped out, put my weight on my foot, and nearly fell flat on my face cos my knees buckled heh. I had to cling on to the railings to climb up the stairs.

But when he said "Your driving's not bad", I was unspeakably relieved =) I passed!

More sobering was when we went to view the road safety video. Out of the initial 16 people who were in the waiting room for the test, only 8 were left. I daresay I was one of the youngest people there (though maybe I looked older cos I was dressed like a dork). My instructor had told me that they are stricter with the young drivers. I didn't quite believe it till I saw who was left, compared with who had been there earlier.

Have a lot to thank God for, from the parents and grandparents who sponsored me for driving, the instructors whom I have given many heart attacks to, the friends who recommended the instructors to me, those who were qualified who gave me advice, and gave me much encouragement throughout my driving course. Especially many thanks to the people whom I would complain to about driving whenever I ran into them =D

God was not just my co-pilot. His hands were on the wheel of the car as well this morning guiding the course of the car, as the instructor does for the student on his first day of driving =)