\u201cA high school senior without a driver’s license is like a\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I struggled to complete that sentence as my student gave me a rueful smile and nodded his head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSorry,\u201d I said. \u201cYou just took me by surprise. Why don\u2019t you have it already?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was more sheepish smiling, some shrugging, some hemming and hawing, and then silence. Awkward silence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nicely done<\/em>, I thought, mentally kicking myself. Just as I was about to change the subject, my student blurted out, \u201cI guess I just don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat, with the RMV? Dude, NONE of us know what we\u2019re doing with the RMV!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo. With the car. I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing with the car<\/strong>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n That left me a bit baffled. This student was nothing short of brilliant! Okay ,sure, a bit unorganized at times, but brilliant nonetheless. Unsure of how to proceed, I said, \u201cCan you say more? I\u2019m not sure\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n And the dam broke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe car<\/strong>. I have to make sure it stays in control! It\u2019s HUGE. It could potentially hurt someone if I don\u2019t drive it right. And passing? I don\u2019t know how to pass! Well, I do, but it\u2019s nerve wracking. I haven\u2019t done it yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Highways? Well, they\u2019re kind of scary. I haven\u2019t been on one yet. There are so many things to pay attention to, potential dangers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then there\u2019s that class you have to take? Well I took it — but it\u2019s all theory! You memorize stuff, but doing <\/strong>it is totally different \u2026 and\u2026 yeah. I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSounds like you DO know what you\u2019re doing. It\u2019s just that you\u2019re doing something that makes you nervous right now.\u201d I pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell I\u2026\u201d He stopped. \u201cYeah. That\u2019s\u2026 that\u2019s it. The thought of driving is kinda\u2026 terrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you think it\u2019ll always feel that way?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cProbably not. I know I need to practice and just get used to it. I\u2019ll probably be fine once I get experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo saying \u2018I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing\u2019 isn\u2019t quite accurate, is it?\u201d I pressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He sat there for a moment, then said dryly, \u201cI know where you\u2019re going with this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He sighed, \u201cYou\u2019re going to tell me that I\u2019ve paralyzed myself by telling myself that I can\u2019t do something when I clearly can. It\u2019s just that I\u2019m just kinda nervous about it. Then you\u2019re going to tell me to tell myself something different so that I can work on getting my driver’s license.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSounds like you don\u2019t need me to tell you anything. You\u2019ve just told yourself. I keep telling you that self-talk is really powerful.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n He shot me a look. You know the one. It\u2019s that look teenagers give grownups who say something they don\u2019t want to admit is right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re welcome.\u201d I said, then logged off Zoom before he could say anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Never underestimate the power of teaching self-talk explicitly. You can change lives from the inside out. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cA high school senior without a driver’s license is like a\u2026\u201d \n\nI struggled to complete that sentence as my student gave me a rueful smile and nodded his head…","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n