9th September 2025

Passed my test, thank god. The lead up to this was honestly horrible, I was so nervous all day on Monday and this morning I don’t even remember half of what I did before the test. It was all just a blur. I woke up, tried to eat Weetabix but I only had half because I felt so sick. I managed to get a coffee in me before the test which helped a lot. Got in Ian’s car and drove to practice a few manoeuvres before the test. Then, away I was to the test centre. Honestly, didn’t even know it was the test centre when I arrived, I thought I was a bus depot or something. It was the Gosforth test centre with a large warehouse type thing and a building. He ran past a few show me tell me questions as I was waiting for 9:17 to come around when my test was due. Still nervous, scared and very anxious. We got out the car and into the building, sat down and waited for my examiner to call my name. Once I was called, I gave him my ID, filled out some details on an iPad then got in the car. He waited for about a minute or so just before entering the car, and I was sat inside. The silence was deafening, this was it. In less than a minute I would set off. He got in and asked me a tell me question which was about the tyre condition. I said 1.6mm tread depth and make sure no scuffs around the tyre. Then, we set off.

Ian said we likely would turn left out of the test centre as there was a lot of traffic, but it was a right turn. I stopped at the junction and noticed cars coming left and right. I was stuck there for a good few minutes it felt like, and I genuinely thought I was going to fail from this. This is because I saw a video yesterday of someone failing their lesson because they could have pulled out into the yellow box. But mine didn’t have a yellow box, so I was half thinking I failed and half thinking it was fine. And it was fine, it was just very busy. The examiner even said “Busy today isn’t it?” which gave me reassurance as they are not meant to speak at all really.

But honestly, once I got out of that junction, all my nerves went out the window. I was fine. I drove just as I did in my lessons. I didn’t overthink and I kept my composure which I was amazed that I did. In high stakes situations I usually fuck things up. Like with Counter Strike, 1v1 situations really spike my heart rate. When I used to play that all the time, I was always best as a team player, never really a clutcher as the stakes crumbled me. But, this test taught me to just tell yourself to remain calm. And I did, I said to myself in my head “It’s okay, just take your time and breath.”.

I got 3 minor faults, but the examiner said only one of them was worth mentioning and that was because I signalled to turn left a bit too early. The other two were for undue hesitation and for the parking manoeuvre which was a forward bay park. I did fuck it up when I turned in to start with, but I said this out loud and said I’d reverse to straighten myself safely. Eventually, I got back to the test centre and opened the door for Ian to hear (and myself). “I’m glad to say that you’ve passed.” Was just the words I needed to hear. Ian even predicted that I’d get 3 minor faults! Brilliant.

I am sad that I likely won’t see Ian again. He was an excellent driving instructor and if anyone is wanting to learn how to drive an automatic car, I seriously recommend Ian at U Drive. He is really good with just teaching what you need to know and if you can do it safely then that’s fine by him. No need for reference points or making sure you’re perfectly in the bay, as long as you do it safely. That’s how he taught me. My previous instructor was more technical in his approach to teaching, which is perfectly fine, it just wasn’t for me. And Ian was just a laugh to be with too!

I even wrote a note yesterday and left it on my desk. It reads “If you didnt pass, its okay. You tried your best and thats all that matters. You can always try again. It's just a small hurdle, not the end of the world :)”

(FYI, the below photo of me I photoshopped my eyes open, because he took two photos with BOTH my eyes closed, nice xd)