Do you dream of the day when you can drive a car? In the United States, teenagers can get their driver's license when they are only 16 years old, but it feels like forever until that day comes. Trust me, because I've been there.
Getting a driver's license takes a lot of time and energy, but it's worth it because it means having a lot more freedom. I'm from the rural state of Iowa (爱荷华州) that doesn't have a lot of public transportation, and everything is really spread out. So until I turned 16, my parents had to drive me pretty much everywhere.
There were several steps before I got that special plastic card. In Iowa, everyone can get their learner's permit at the age of 14, which means you can only drive if your parent is sitting in the seat next to you.
The next step was getting my school permit at the age of 15. In the state of Iowa, if you live more than a mile (1.6 km) away from school you can get a school permit. But you can only drive to school and back home. Luckily, I lived just over a mile away from school, so I was able to drive my mom's car to school. But if you were caught going outside that route (路线) you would get in big trouble.
Finally, after taking and passing a three-month-long driver's education course and the final test, I was able to get my driver's license. I could almost taste the freedom already, and it did make life quite a bit easier.
