By: Anni Balbian

It seems that no matter what junior you talk to in our grade, they have all had a bad experience with obtaining their license. It’s either “the guy was a jerk” or “the roads were terrible.” Getting your license is hard, there’s no question. It’s not technically hard in the fact that driving is extremely difficult (after some people have had their permit for a year), but it’s the nerves that gets you or the personality of the person giving you the road test. What do you do to practice? How do you overcome the nerves, and how do you overcome your road test giver?

I have heard of experiences from some of my friends of how their road tests went. Carolyn Gibbins, who just got her license March 30, had no trouble at all. She came late to track practice smiling ear to ear, and was excited to tell everyone she saw that she got her license on her first try at Ballston Spa. “The guy was serious-ish and it was scary,” Carolyn said. She later showed me her receipt from getting her license, and her signature was so shaky, because she was just so happy and relieved to get her license.

Sam Pappalau also only had to go once for her license in Ballston Spa. Sam’s experience didn’t go so well. “The person was really rude and honked at little kids going to the bus… he reached over and honked, not me. He was mean and uptight. I thought, ahhh I’m going to fail, but after I felt good even if ridiculous points were taken off.”  Who reaches across a person who is driving and who you don’t even know, to honk a horn, while that person you reached across was in the midst of taking her road test?! It’s ridiculous, not to even say, rude.

Levi Amell finally got his with the idea “third time’s a charm.” Levi failed his first two tests at Ballston Spa but passed his third time March 30. “He was mean,” Levi said (though different words were used). Levi felt that it wasn’t that big of a deal. 

Lindsay Martin went first to Amsterdam where she failed with 75 points; she then went to Johnstown and passed with 30 points off. “The first guy at Amsterdam was this monotone loser who liked failing me for no good reason. The second guy at Johnstown was wicked nice and easy to talk to.” Lindsay told me, “I never want to do a driver’s test again; it made me all anxious and nervous. I’m glad I got it over with,” Lindsey said. “I’m a beast at driving.”

Elizabeth Gribben, I have to say has had the worst experience yet with trying to get her driver’s license. She has gone to Ballston Spa and Glens Falls yet still hasn’t gotten her license. She has tried four times.

“I’ve practiced a lot” she tells me, “All the men except for one guy were not very nice, I felt like I was getting criticized about every little thing. Honestly I wanted to cry every time. The whole thing is pretty much awful. I took it three times in Ballston Spa and it was bad there, the roads are bumpy and narrow. I also went to Glens Falls, it wasn’t much better.” Elizabeth explained to me that she gets very nervous, but when she went into detail and explained how the men acted, I’m amazed that she didn’t yell at them.

Elizabeth even had her dad ride along on her last test. She ended up having the same man test her that tested her one other time in Ballston Spa. “My dad even said the testing guy was condescending towards me. The tester guy even said, ‘Even your dad will agree that I’m not being mean.’ My dad made me apologize, and I was crying since I was so upset. I felt like he was picking on the littlest, tiniest things. It’s like they are out to get you, they are out to say no to you. After I get my license, my parents are going to write a letter to the DMV about all my bad experiences.”

I have heard from almost everyone who has gone for their road tests that the men (always men) are never nice. It’s not that they are just rude, but it’s what they say to you and all you can do is sit there and take it, because all you want is your license. What really gets you are your nerves. It’s really about how you present yourself and acting confident is key! I personally have not gotten my driver’s license, my parents wanted me to drive through winter (understandable) and take driver’s education (which I did). It’s great to have driver’s education as a positive impact on your first impression to your driver’s test giver. To give him that paper makes you look much better as a responsible and experienced driver. Lindsay told me that “I’d say make sure you know how to drive and you’re not some reckless idiot. Show that you can handle driving by yourself and just be relaxed when taking your driving test.”

I spoke to Mrs. Ostrander about how unbelievable road tests are and the trouble that people have to go through to get their license. Mrs. Ostrander told me that one of her previous students, Garrett Schaperjahn who graduated in 2006, dressed up for his road test to look very presentable and responsible and it basically gave him his license just because most people don’t do that. You want to look responsible and presentable and look like a good driver!

To really excel in knowing the rules of the road and taking your road test your best bet is to go to the DMV and get a NYS drivers’ manual or go online to www.nydmv.state.ny.us/  and look up all the information you can about getting a driver’s license.

Still, what is wrong with our generation? Sam, Elizabeth, Carolyn and Lindsay all agreed that we are getting tested harder. Elizabeth said, “We definitely have a tougher time. I think adults are scared of us in cars because our generation has proved to kind of be destructive.”

How did your driver’s test go? Leave a comment below and let us know.