Blog Post
When you feel un-teachable make sure you come to Homers!
Millennials, the pupils who are most likely to be learning to drive now have been labeled the ‘generation of anxiety’ with over 50% of the generation saying they suffer with anxiety over money, job issues, and social situations. Recently we’ve noticed a trend in driving anxiety so we invited a guest blogger to tell their story suffering with driving worry and their tips to move forward from it.
“As a learner driver, I suffered with terrible anxiety. I’d had a few driving instructors, as I started driving at university with a nice man who would only call me for a lesson when he fancied an extra few pounds in his pocket.
Then I had a guy that would call me all the time outside of lessons. And then there was a guy that worked where I worked and had a driving school on the side which was fine for a while until I realised he was just ‘letting me have a go’ and not teaching me anything.
At this point, I had wasted time energy, picked up a few bad habits and not to mention the money that I had spent. I felt un-teachable. When I moved back home it took 3 months before I called another instructor. This time I was referred to someone else as my first choice was full so I went with a new guy. Everything was going fine until around Christmas. He started cancelling on me all the time, he’d shout and had grew impatient with me and I didn’t know why I was doing what I was which made it hard for me to learn. Somehow, I managed to pass my theory but again because I had just been told to do it and didn’t really know why, I was driving around not applying the things I had learnt to my driving.
The last straw with this instructor was when he had cancelled on me and I went out for lunch at my local pub and he was there, drunk with his friends. I decided there and then that I wouldn’t be having any lessons with him.
After this I was more determined than ever to pass my test. I called around all the instructors that had helped my friends pass and finally found one who would squeeze me in to suit me being as I was now working 9-5 Monday to Friday at this point.
As soon as I started he reassured me that I wasn’t un-teachable it was just unfortunate that I had had 4 prior instructors that didn’t understand how I learnt and we’re basically ‘cow- boy’ instructors who took money and didn’t care about teaching a pupil. I knew as soon as I had my first lesson that this would be the instructor for me.
Top tips in getting through driving anxiety
- Make sure you find the right instructor, it doesn’t matter how many you get through! I had 5. Make sure they are right for you, they understand how you learn, have had a lot of experience and receive great reviews.
- Make sure you do go to each lesson. No matter how much you want to cancel, i found that I always felt worse when I did cancel than if I had gone.
- But don’t go if your instructor isn’t right.
- Make sure you actually understand. I found the hardest thing was when I didn’t understand I just tried to go with it, but then when I got home id look up on it and make sure the next lesson I had it.
- Ask questions, and answer back if you still don’t understand. If you just do something because you’ve been told you won’t learn.
- Find the right instructor! I cannot stress enough how important this is! You are paying the money and they are offering the service. If it’s not right just leave and find somebody else, it will make you want to go.
Get in touch today to discuss your driving needs and find availability in your local area.