Driving

I love to drive. I understand why some people view it as a hassle and a chore but I find it almost meditative. I find a long drive very relaxing, and it gives me time to focus and think about things I wouldn’t normally think about. However I wasn’t always like this, I waited over a year to get my drivers license and I regret every minute that I spent waiting.
When my parents first proposed the idea of getting my driver’s license I was against the idea completely. I thought that learning to drive was a waste of time and I could just take the bus anywhere I needed to go. I help on to these ideas until right until I turned 16. Once I turned 16 and the majority of my friends had their licenses (since I have a late birthday), I realized that driving was actually super useful(who knew🤔). Rather than asking my parents to drive me to hang out with my friends I could just jump in the car and go. As a result, I asked my friends for rides whenever I wanted to hang out. I realized I was a burden on my friends(😓) and enrolled in driving school as soon as possible. Driving school was a breeze, I was one of older kids in the classroom since I waited a year to take driving school but that was OK with me, I happy to being left alone and focusing on the class. The material that was taught was simple, most of it was logical. But driving is a lot of responsibility, you are responsible for a ~2-ton hunk of steel that can go over 100mph and your brain isn’t even fully matured. As a result, I focused on the material that was taught and made sure to remember everything I thought was important. After I finished driving school my mom planned a road trip to Florida and I was expected to drive at least half (😵). I gained a lot of experience on the road trip, I learned how to properly drive in heavy rain and even learned how to speed (😋). I think the road trip really made a better drive and allowed me to gain a lot of real-world experience. When we came back from the road trip I promised myself to the “behind the wheel” portion of my driving school done. But due to laziness, I waited until this summer after I got a job. This was stupid. Only when I realized that taking a 1.5 hr bus ride to get to my job sucked(🤢), did I push to get my license? I finished the “behind the wheel portion in exactly a week, I tried to rush it as much as possible. I have blessed that the behind the wheel teacher recognized my desperation and fast-tracked my progress.
When I finally complete all my requirements, I went to take the test. I waited over 4 hours in the DMV. It was one of the worst most bureaucratic experience of my life. The test took only about 10 min but the waiting killed me. In the end, it was all worth it I got my driver's license and earned my freedom. I earned the ability to leave almost whenever I want and I earned the freedom to just think and drive. I think earn is the right word proportional the amount of time I put into this and the amount I learned.

Teeth

Teeth are very important. Most people hate going to the dentist, they find someone digging in their teeth under a bright light unsettling, intrusive. I love it. I see taking care of my teeth as an investment into my future health. Brushing my teeth, flossing, gargling mouthwash makes me feel good. Just like a long, hot shower properly brushing your teeth make your mouth feel fresh, clean and most importantly healthy. As a result, a trip to the dentist is a reassurance that I am properly caring for my teeth and of course a professional cleaning. I am proud to say that I have never had a cavity, and am overall very proud of my teeth. I do of course relate to people who are less fortunate than I. The quality of my teeth was not always perfect. In fact, in elementary and middle school I had to have over eight fully attached teeth pulled from my mouth. These healthy baby teeth needed to be extracted. In normal cases, a baby teeth start to fall out between the ages five to seven years old and they continue to fall out until you turn about 12. My baby teeth didn't want to come out. It wasn’t their fault but rather the permanent teeth whose job is to push out and replace the baby teeth had failed. My adult teeth grew in behind my baby teeth rather than underneath which is normal. This resulted in my having two rows of teeth for a period of time. The image is very reminiscent of a shark.  My parents wanted to wait for my teeth to push forward and eventually push out my baby teeth, but my dentist recommended just pulling out my baby teeth. When I arrived at the dentist office, I wasn’t sure what to expect. My dentist sat me down, showed me the x-ray showing that my adult teeth wouldn’t push out my baby teeth and began the procedure. My dentist poked me with a needle and my whole mouth felt numb. He then got a pair of pliers and started to pull. I was incredibly surprised, even in 7th grade I visualized modern dentistry to be more advanced than just “make it not hurt” and “PULL.” My hope of a modern robot pulling my teeth was dashed and I had to deal with what was available. You may not know but just like icebergs, teeth are much larger under the surface than above. The roots of a tooth hold it in place and supply nutrients, they also make normal human teeth look like monster teeth when not hidden under gums. So since none of my baby teeth had lost their roots, my dentist was pulling monster teeth from my mouth and all I could do was look at the pliers with amazement. Particularly while pulling the last tooth my dentist couldn’t get a good grip and chipped it while trying to get it out. For a split second I thought he chipped a healthy tooth and I got extremely nervous and scared. But on the second attempt, he pulled out the chipped tooth and showed me the chip and the root. “That was a stuck one,” he said. I didn’t respond just drooled on the towel covering my shirt. My only dental procedure was done just like that. The recovery was simple and all my teeth moved to the proper places. Looking back I am grateful for the procedure it allowed my teeth to fill in naturally without braces and in my opinion my teeth look alright. But ever since getting my teeth pulled I have spent an extra minute flossing or gargling for a second longer despite the alcohol burning like hell in my mouth. I care for my teeth and I hope they will take care of me.