In approximately three hours, I will be exactly sixteen years old. (No way to code that in a way Internet stalkers won't figure it out...oh well.) Luckily, so long as it's your birthday, they don't care if you technically aren't quite sixteen. They'll still let you take the driver's test!

So, I took the above mentioned test. After showing them my I.D., having my photo taken, and taking a vision test, I had to write the knowledge test. You need at least 80% to pass this test. They throw in several misleading questions, and in several, they give two or three right answers, and you have to guess which is the most right. It was difficult and confusing, and I had the feeling that I was getting too many wrong...but I passed! On the way home, my mom pulled over on our street and let me drive home. After proudly pasting my L sign on the car's rear and making sure I had the piece of paper that now serves as my license until they mail me my real one, I did so, slowly and cautiously, and noting with interest that you need more gas to go up hills. When we were about to turn into the driveway, my mom said, "put on the turn signal." So I flipped the turn signal on-no lights blinked, but the windshield wipers came on!

Some tips for people who are about to get their class 7L license:

• study like mad. Read the book from cover to cover, then take an online practice test. Repeat until you'd rather gouge your eyes out than read the effing book again.
• Bring something to do. There will be other people doing various things having to do with their license, and you will have to wait in line.
• Make sure you look presentable. The photo on your license will be constantly at your side for a year (if you live in BC).
• Allow your eyes to adjust to the machine when taking the vision test. You aren't going blind out of panic or anything-this is normal, and it will be okay in a few moments.
• If you do flunk your test-don't worry. Only half of the people taking the knowledge test pass the first time. I read the book three times and took six practice tests, and I still just barely scraped by. It's the most difficult test I've ever seen. If you make it past the first ten questions, you're doing fantastic! It's just that they want you to study this stuff until it's burned into your subconscious neuropatterns (the things you see when you squeeze your eyes shut really tight), because you're about to start operating something that, in the wrong hands, is essentially a large speeding projectile of metallic death. And...
• If you are taking your test right on your birthday, like I did, don't eat too much chocolate beforehand. The massive caffeine headache makes it a little harder to concentrate.

EDIT: I wrote this, then ran off for a few hours to discuss tommorow's birthday yarn crawl with my mom (see previous post for a hint of what that might mean), so by the time this was actually posted, I'd been sixteen for ten minutes. Hee hee...