I remember my first lesson. I was scared but excited at the same time. It didn’t help that it started pouring with rain either! Anyway, by the second lesson, my teacher thought I was good enough to drive back to my house from the learning area, over a dual carriage way! I was terrified, loads of vans kept over taking me – I think I was probably going about five miles an hour!

I’ve had a few close calls too – not looking properly when pulling out meant I came close to having a crash more than once. But, its hard to concentrate on all the new things your being taught – you’ve got to remember the right gear, the ‘mirror signal manouver’, to put your handbrake on and off – I felt like there wasn’t enough time to do it all, while checking for other cars and pulling out as well.

I started learning again with BSM in January, with a new teacher, called Jay. For me, it was like riding a bike, I got straight back into it, and I think because I enjoyed it so much, it made it easier for me. I’ve always loved the practical side of things – it was the listening part I’ve always disliked, so the hardest part for me was concentrating and remembering all the different rules there are to driving.

I think I enjoy driving so much because of the sense of freedom it brings you. I wasn’t the kind of little girl who played with Barbies and dolls, I preferred toy cars, garages and gadgets! I learned to ride a bike as soon as I could, and I wanted to do the same with driving. As well as the freedom it gives you, its just fun!

The things I always found hardest were parallel parking and reversing round a corner. I just didn’t get it at all, and I didn’t work out a reference point for quite a while! Also, I found it hard at first to remember the techniques for the manouvre, and to remember to keep looking in all the different blind spots for other cars or pedestrians. It all comes down to practice though, my teacher kept telling me you’ve just got to wait for it to ‘click’, and finally it did, and I couldn’t understand why I’d found it so hard before.

I had two teachers at BSM, and both were brilliant, as well as a good laugh and easy to talk to, which I think makes all the difference. My second teacher was Ali, who used to live nearby me, so we already had stuff to talk and laugh about. I think having a teacher that suits your personality is really important, as you need to feel relaxed and in a good mood to be able to drive well.

If you’re stressed or annoyed, you take it out on your driving and make mistakes, and also means you don’t really want to take the lessons as much.

I passed my test first time, and put it all down to Jay and Ali – the best teachers ever!