My rookie era: In my 30s, I went for my driver’s licence test – and failed four times

‘While I had many skills – typing fast, crying delicately – it was starting to feel like driving would not be one of them.’ Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Last year, at the age of 35, I decided it was time to grow up and get my driver’s licence.

I had considered it before but it had never stuck. As a teenager, I thought driving was scary and significantly less cool than sitting on the bus, listening to the same eight songs on my MP3 player. As a news reporter in my 20s, not driving was inconvenient to both me and my editors, but so was spending days off learning how to parallel park.