Overcoming an Anxiety to Learn How to Drive a Car I was born with cerebral palsy, and because of this, I’ve always worried I may be physically unable to drive. My muscle weakness is on the right side of my body. This directly affects the way I stand, sit, walk and use handheld tools. I have limited and almost no use of my right hand. I worry how my right foot would need to accelerate and decelerate with ease, especially if someone was in the car with me. When I turned 16, a few of my friends started to drive on their way to school, of course with a parent next to them. I watched with jealousy, as my peers got driving licenses and drove their friends to school. I worried; by the age of seventeen, I would still not be able to drive. It gave me anxiety worrying would I always be that friend that hitches rides because they don’t have a car or just don’t have the ability to drive. Everyone can see I wear a leg brace to school daily. In addition, I have hearing loss to the point where I can’t even hear the sharpest of whistles or the lowest of mumbles. I wondered how that would affect my ability to navigate busy traffic. That mixture further fueled my anxiety about causing an accident on the road. At the age of seventeen, I had a driver's permit for a couple of months. I’d studied road signs for hours and played driving simulations on my phone well enough to crash very few times. Early November, my parents had gotten a call from a driving assessment clinic called The Shepherd Center. They specialize in teaching physically disabled people to learn to drive an adaptive car. My Cerebral Palsy is on the right side of my body. So, I would need to learn to drive a car using my left hand and left leg. The modified car would have all the same driving hardware but on the left side of the car. The accelerator pedal would be next to the door on the left instead of the right side. Using manipulative toys and games, they assessed my hand and foot movements. At the end of these tests, I was told I would be driving out on the street today. I was about to drive an adapted car. However, I still had nerves. I had spent the last couple of months playing driving games, but this, this was the real deal. My instructor and I drove across a quiet neighborhood, passing little quantities of cars and people. It was different from what I had expected. With the thankful aid of my instructor and the clinic-modified car, I was able to drive with some difficulties. Sometimes I’d run into curbs, not hear cars pass by, and would coast every few seconds. I was afraid to accelerate. After about an hour, I had survived, uninjured and very happy. But I still sucked at driving. My fear of causing accidents had subsided, a fear which had crippled me my entire teenage existence. With much more practice in a modified car, I finally realize I could very well drive. I imagined myself in the future driving my friends around. Today, I am still working on driving and I am less anxious than ever before. Listening to Clairo's music has given me the confidence to believe in myself confidently.

My dog Archie was rescued from the streets of Rome, Georgia. He was originally found by a truck driver who then took the dog home to his wife. They became his foster family for almost two months before putting him up for adoption online. Archie is new to our family. He suffers from whipworm and severe anxiety. He's on medications for both. Archie is opening up slowly and showing us his real playful personality. I'm so proud of how much he's grown and from the skittish puppy he once was to the excitable puppy he is today. https://www.instagram.com/p/CXelPQ7l9rxqdf0-dir_mBstFjuwiue6T-MPSA0/