I'm going to turn 19 next week and I still haven't had a single driving lesson, even though it was my 17th "birthday present". Of course I want to learn to drive because it gives you freedom but what's the rush?
At the age of 17 most of us are doing our A-levels, and if you have your heart set on university A-levels do actually matter.
Finding the time to focus on your studies whilst possibly juggling a social life and a part-time job is hard enough. Adding learning to drive to that equation can sometimes be too much for us hormonal teenagers to handle.
Once you get A-levels out the way you have the whole summer to learn to drive, which is perfect for those of us who can pick things up easily. But for me driving was not at the top of my priority list.
When you are moving to university the following September the one thing many people focus on is money and making sure you have enough to last you the whole year, or at least freshers.
Once you get to university you are so focused on settling in, making friends, finding your barring’s and getting used to your course. Although "first year doesn't count" there is still a lot of pressure on you to do well. Having driving lessons during your spare time at university is manageable but personally I wouldn't want to have that pressure.
Money isn't something every student has stacks of, and driving costs money, a lot of it. Although you may be able to save up for some block lessons, you then may have to wait a while till you can afford to have some more. This isn't ideal and could make the whole process drag out a lot longer than you initially wanted.
Summer is clearly the best time for a student to learn to drive as it is the time of year we all have the most amount of free time.
But why should we all rush into learning to drive now. Yes, I understand it is better to have a valid UK driving licence in terms of employability but if you are based in a city then you have a vast amount of public transport around you from trams to buses, and most of the time these can be cheaper.
I asked myself the question "when would I drive?"
The answer is about once a month, if that. I live on campus like many students, I can walk to my main shopping area and when I go home I either fly or take my boyfriend down with me in his car. I would only use a car for when I was buying heavy shopping, wanted to go somewhere for the weekend or to bring my stuff back and forth to university which is only twice a year.
If you live in areas like London then most of the time walking can be faster than driving places. Not only that, but it is easier to hop on and off a bus than find a parking space.
Driving is a great skill to have as it can be the reason why you get a job over another candidate. It can give you a sense of freedom and make you feel like an adult. But there is no reason why we should rush into things so costly as driving at a young age, just because it is now legal for us to do so
At the age of 17 most of us are doing our A-levels, and if you have your heart set on university A-levels do actually matter.
Finding the time to focus on your studies whilst possibly juggling a social life and a part-time job is hard enough. Adding learning to drive to that equation can sometimes be too much for us hormonal teenagers to handle.
Once you get A-levels out the way you have the whole summer to learn to drive, which is perfect for those of us who can pick things up easily. But for me driving was not at the top of my priority list.
When you are moving to university the following September the one thing many people focus on is money and making sure you have enough to last you the whole year, or at least freshers.
Once you get to university you are so focused on settling in, making friends, finding your barring’s and getting used to your course. Although "first year doesn't count" there is still a lot of pressure on you to do well. Having driving lessons during your spare time at university is manageable but personally I wouldn't want to have that pressure.
Money isn't something every student has stacks of, and driving costs money, a lot of it. Although you may be able to save up for some block lessons, you then may have to wait a while till you can afford to have some more. This isn't ideal and could make the whole process drag out a lot longer than you initially wanted.
Summer is clearly the best time for a student to learn to drive as it is the time of year we all have the most amount of free time.
But why should we all rush into learning to drive now. Yes, I understand it is better to have a valid UK driving licence in terms of employability but if you are based in a city then you have a vast amount of public transport around you from trams to buses, and most of the time these can be cheaper.
I asked myself the question "when would I drive?"
The answer is about once a month, if that. I live on campus like many students, I can walk to my main shopping area and when I go home I either fly or take my boyfriend down with me in his car. I would only use a car for when I was buying heavy shopping, wanted to go somewhere for the weekend or to bring my stuff back and forth to university which is only twice a year.
If you live in areas like London then most of the time walking can be faster than driving places. Not only that, but it is easier to hop on and off a bus than find a parking space.
Driving is a great skill to have as it can be the reason why you get a job over another candidate. It can give you a sense of freedom and make you feel like an adult. But there is no reason why we should rush into things so costly as driving at a young age, just because it is now legal for us to do so
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