It was permit testing day, the sophomores were stressing, and Ella Plotkin was arbitrarily yelling out to her Journalism class in a cry for help: “When you’re parking on a hill, which way do you turn your tires?!”
“It’s obviously towards the curb,” Amanda Forman shouted back. With a skeptical and confused look, Ella turned to me, hoping for an answer to the riddle. Though I took Driver’s Ed last year, I was surely no driving expert, as I have only had my permit for three months, drive for less than 15 minutes a week, and refuse to practice parking.
Ella had been taking Driver’s Ed for a month, but as with every other class, she “waited till the last minute to study for the test.” Besides, how can you learn the rules of driving from a squeaky chair at an old wooden desk in a sweaty, humid room?
The night before the big test Ella put her big-girl pants on and dove feet-first into the aggressively cramped pages of the 2023 New Jersey Driver Manual. She aimlessly skimmed the 240 pages, but instead of comprehending any of the information, her head just filled with the fear of failure.
Four years earlier, Ella’s brother Alex had been in the same place. Sitting in his room stressing about the test instead of actually studying for it. After hearing from his friends that the test is “common knowledge,” Alex turned his attention to manifestation and relaxation. Hoping his laid-back approach and prior knowledge would succeed, he confidently entered his permit test. Unfortunately, after all his hard “studying,” he brutally failed the test. Ella did not want to be the next family failure, so she attempted to lock in.
It was now late the night before. Heavy-eyed and frustrated, Ella sat in her dimly lit room, staring at the big red “START” button on the practice test, awaiting her click. Just as she was about to start the practice, she looked over at her fluffy duvet and silky pillows and told herself she would “just rest for 15 minutes, then go back to studying.” Of course, that 15-minute nap turned into a satisfying deep sleep. Before Ella knew it, it was 7:40 a.m., and her mom screamed at her to get up so she wouldn’t be late for school.
Because Ella always chooses “comfort over style,” she threw on the first pair of sweats she saw and ran out the door.
The impending doom of the test weighed on Ella’s brain all of first period, so when she got to second period, Intro to Business, she decided to take a practice test. She took a deep breath and hit the big red “START” button. Jaw-dropped and dazed, Ella stared at the first question. She tried to focus on what the question was asking, but all she could hear was the murmuring of Mr. Hiler teaching from the front of the room. She took an educated guess and then moved on to the following questions, excitedly answering the ones she knew and doubtfully answering the ones she didn’t. Ella finished the practice and clicked the big green “FINISH TEST” button. A big fat 64% blinked on her screen, meaning she got a 32/50. This score wasn’t gonna cut it; you need a 40/50 to pass the permit test in New Jersey.
After the frustration of second period, Ella gave herself a brain break during third and fourth, but before she knew it, it was lunch, and she “promised [herself she] would turn her brain power back on during lunch. She walked down the Study Den’s long hallway, then sat at a lonely cubicle unit. “I actually thought I was going to pass that practice test,” she said. “But luck just wasn’t on my side. When I submitted it, a whopping 37/50 appeared on my computer screen.”
Eighth period rolled around, which meant it was go time for Ella. Discouraged and anxious, she walked into her dull classroom and sat for the real deal. Silence filled the room; she “could hear every nose sniffle and desk wobble.” She quickly got through the first few questions, then was met with a challenging one: “If you are driving behind a school bus and it shows a flashing red light signaling a stop, you must….” She skipped it, but it circled back to her just a few minutes later. At that point, she could only get two more wrong but had three questions remaining. “I had no idea what to do at that point,” she said. “It’s like my brain had a blackout. All I remember is that I answered the last three questions and only got one of them wrong. I submitted my test and opened my testing receipt with the word ‘PASSED’ glistening from the email.”
She felt an overwhelming sense of relief and did what she wanted to achieve; she passed on the first try. The first thing she did after passing was text her brother, “I BEAT YOU. I GOT IT ON THE FIRST TRY.” Though she did pass on her first attempt, a 41/50 was surely not passing with flying colors, so let’s hope she’s not on the road for a little while. And when she does make it to the roads, steer clear!
