Emily hadn’t always felt “cool,” but that changed once she got her license. It was like personal freedom for her getting away from her life and entering a no-rule world. She claimed that she and her friend Mia were nerds because they always did dorky things together. Emily had never really thought of the possibility that she would be the one to hit a car. She said she was cautious with it but not as cautious as she should have been. A simple trip to the YMCA to pick up Mia so they can watch the Spelling Bee took a turn for the worst when Emily smacked her front bumper into the back of a Jeep.

To me in Emily Doughan’s “A Crash Course in Coolness,” that she submitted to Teen Ink in the October issue, I find her to be quite like an ordinary teen who first gets her license. I would have reacted the same way she did: freaking out, frantically calling my mom, and apologizing to my friend, family, and victim. It has been about a year since I got my license, but I still worry every day that I might hit someone. I’m not trying to count myself as a bad driver, but sometimes I’m not as cautious as I should be, especially if I’m running late for school or a meeting. The only thing I’ve hit is my mailbox. I still freaked out. I was crying like crazy and apologizing to my dad how I didn’t mean to hit it, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. Honestly, I completely understand Emily’s story and her reaction. Sometimes events like that happen, and there is nothing we can really do about it. We can’t see ahead to the future to know if it is going to happen or not. Now days I make sure I’m super careful pulling in or out of a parking spot or anytime in a small area with lots of cars. Emily just had one of those moments where nothing could be done, but she still took precautions after she hit it and was serious about the whole thing.