I was always the one in school who could sell the most when it came to fundraisers. I treated it like my life’s mission, truly. If there was a product I could pitch, you best believe I’d sell 10 cases of it before the first day was over. My favorite to sell was food, it was the easiest to spiel on about. Candy bars and cookie dough were top sellers each year! My freshman year of high school was a cookie dough year. I’d already gotten the sales from my parents, grandparents, cousins, and my next buyer was my best friend! After the ordering phase, we received huge pallets of frozen cookie dough, spread out on the band room floor. I lugged my portion back home on the bus. This would be so much easier if I had my license… and a car! I was studying every day to take my learner’s permit test, all I had to do was convince my dad to take me to the DMV. But while I waited for him to pick a date, my routine was this: get driven to school early for marching band practice, ride the bus back home. So I rode home, cookie dough slightly defrosting in my lap. I shoved it all in the freezer, taking up every inch of leftover space we had. The next morning, I put the order for my friend in an insulated bag and set it by the door so I wouldn’t forget it. After getting ready, I headed for school with my parents. Of course, I’d walked right past the cookie dough. So much for not forgetting! It wasn’t until I was in the car with my parents, on the way to school that I remembered the cookie dough was sitting there by the door, probably pretty lonely. I asked my dad’s wife to turn around, we were only a few minutes from the house, I didn’t want to forget the bag as I’d promised my friend I’d get it to her after gym class. It was a two way road, a no pass zone. We slowed down to make a U-turn on the empty street. I swear she signaled the left blinker. The truck from behind tried to pass mid U-turn and smashed into the side of the car. I think it could be qualified as “T-boned”. I screamed too loud. I couldn’t catch my breath. All of this because I forgot the cookie dough? Is that fair? The door was crunched in. The woman who hit us never said sorry. And she didn’t have insurance. And I can’t remember anything else, really, except that I missed marching band practice. We were driven home by a police officer. I still wanted to go to school, so my mom left work early to drive me back the other way towards school. I remembered the cookie dough this time. The aftermath of that accident for my parents was mostly insurance related, words like deductibles and no-fault state I heard through the phone. I wasn’t moving on. I wasn’t even driving, I just told her to turn around. And yet it took me almost 3 years to get my driver’s license after that. I missed all the driving milestones my friends and classmates had because I couldn’t even get behind the wheel without breaking down. My advice to you: If you’re ever in a car accident, don’t go to work or school right after. Take a day! Maybe find a therapist? Because things that are seemingly small, accidents that leave no one injured, they can still linger in your mind. Turning left shouldn’t be something that paralyzes you. My experience with driving could have and should have been a more positive one. For many, driving is freedom! The danger is that feeling of freedom turning into a feeling of invincibility. Which is why I believe so strongly in graduated driver’s licenses, i.e. receiving a learner’s permit, graduating to a restricted license and finally to an unrestricted license. Studies have proven that this system of licensing significantly decreases fatal accidents in drivers under the age of 18. In fact, drivers aged 16-19 are three times more likely to die in fatal crashes than older drivers. In that three year span, the brain develops immensely, and learning to drive should reflect the stages of brain growth in young adults. I also recently moved to a new state that requires any device use must be hands-free in the car. In this era flooded with distractions of noise, video, texting and calling, there needs to be active restrictions when behind the wheel, and efforts like this can only help turn the tides of driving related deaths. I did finally get my license, after graduating high school, waiting through a pandemic, and getting a hand-me down car with hand crank windows. As much as my experience with the accident filled me with fear, it also allowed me to have a deeper understanding for defensive driving and the balance it takes to drive safely while also not impeding anyone else on the road. Too much caution can be just as bad as pure recklessness. So, I consider myself a life-long learner on the road. I lead with my example, always fully stopping at stop signs, using my turn signals on every lane change, and making sure everyone is buckled in before I put the car in gear. I know, it might sound uptight, but I never want anyone else to feel the fear I felt when I got behind the wheel for so many years. I hope that every U.S. adopts a graduated license system, and I think every 30 years there should be a recertification as well. Not as a punishment, but as a refresher. Laws change, streets change. As they change, we must change with them. There is nothing inconvenient to me about safety and knowledge. Driving is the ultimate collaboration: we’re all working together on the roads to get to where we’re going safely. It’s not something you can speed through (no pun intended). The minimum hours of practice, written and driving tests aren’t to be viewed as a hassle or an inconvenience, rather as steps in a journey. The freedom that comes with driving isn’t something we can take for granted, I will never forget that. And I’ll never sell cookie dough again, either. Just to be safe.