October 2020, I’ve got my driving licence ! I was so happy and proud ! It was one of the milestones and the most challenging experiences I’ve gone trough.

After 4 months of intensive work, financial but also time and emotional investments, I finally got that dame “sésame”! Compared to all the visas, diplomas and citizenship applications, etc. that I’ve experienced, I think this was the most uncertain test for me : for some moments, I thought that I would never get it !

So for my personal English class (I take an English class with a personal teacher), I wrote this as a souvenir :

To begin, I would like to ask you a question “What is a recent achivement that you are very proud of ? and why ?”

For me, my recent achivement I’m very proud of is the driving license that I’ve gotten recently ! Indeed, after four month of hard working, I’ve gotten the license last Wednesday ! And I will tell you the three reasons of my joy.

First, I’m very happy that after 4 months of hard work, I’m learned many things. About 4 months ago, before I decided to seriously work on the driving license, I didn’t know almost nothing about traffic laws, and anything about car and car driving. I was like illiterate in traffic laws : even as a pedestrian, I didn’t know that I have that a great priority.

For instance, once, a car had to stop as the traffic was very crowded and the light turn red to him, and the car stopped on the pedestrian crossing. A pedestrian crossed the road and made a sign to the car driver that what he did was bad. And by that time, I didn’t understand why. Now I know that when the traffic is crowed, on a traffic light, you must anticipate and stop before the pedestrian crossing to let the pedestrian crossing when the light turns red to you and green for them.

Or another exemple, we were looking for a parking place, I told my husband “there, there is a place”, and he said “no, it’s a place for delivery”, “what about this one”, “no it’s in front of a door !!!”. I feel like the 6-year-old children, who didn’t know how to spell words in September and then who can read at the end of the school year. I’m very happy about this new horizon that is open to me !

The second reason that makes me very proud of this achivement is the journey of going beyond myself. Indeed, I think it was one of the most intense and stressful exams that I’ve been through. There is a lot to learn, I had to overcome my fear, manage my stress and motivation. I had to recongnize my mistakes and try to fix them and at the same time, I had to remain optimistic and believe in myself. Moreover, I had to overcome my fear, as I’m not used to speed. I still remember the first lesson I learned how to brake, I was very nervous and the first time I went to the highway, I was about to ask the trainer to go home. The driving license requires a lot of investments : time investment, money, but also physical and psychological investments. There was time where I thought about giving up, but finally, I’ve overcomed my fear, and I succeded, so I’m very proud.

Last but not least, thanks to the driving license, I will be independent and helpful for my entourage. I’ll be able to drive by myself to meet friends in Paris, I can come home late, can go to Bercy Carrefour or to Vietnamese markets by myself, but also can drive my friends, Arnaud’s grandmother, or can help in house moving. If we travel, I can share the driving with Arnaud. If there is an emergency, I can be more helpful. For new year or other special occasion for instance, Arnaud can drink more and I can drive.

To conclude, this has been an intense and memorable journey. From now on, I can start my training to become an independant and a good driver.

I would like to cherish this milestone of mine but also encourage you to cherish your achivement, to remind ourselves of all our abilities, of how we can overcome ourself, our limit and fear and I hope that this positive attitude will allow us to achive further exploits.