In this episode, Kev, this is the first of our real life stories for Season 8. Yes, our student was Jess, and she kindly agreed to record some reflections as we progress through our week long driving course. It was quite interesting to see, how we did. So have a listen, and see how we got on through the week. So good morning Jess. Hi Kev. This is the beginning of day two but I thought we could start just a little recording of what you were hoping for from the beginning of day one. What were your thoughts? So before day one I'd done 10 hours of lessons a year ago and I didn't necessarily have the best relationship with my instructor. I really struggled between, I was doing two hours every Saturday, and in between that period I'd just kind of forget everything I'd learned. So I felt like my progress was really slow, I was really doubting everything I did because I felt like I'd forgotten everything in the meantime. So coming into yesterday I was quite nervous, I didn't really know anything and I was worried that The hours that I put in wouldn't reflect how much I actually knew, and that I'd get into the car and panic and I was especially worried about, you know, getting into situations like traffic lights and not knowing how to pull out everyone in group. Like, just basic things. Um, the first thing when I got into the car with Kev yesterday was being like, okay, I've written what I think is the order of how to start the car. Can I just double check this is correct? And I was just saying, well, spoiler alert, but I was just saying to Kev that this morning I didn't have any worries about how to start the car. I knew after yesterday exactly what to do in that situation. So So how do you think your confidence has improved from yesterday then? yes, I think my confidence has improved a lot since yesterday. Even throughout the day, you know, when things went right, I would, as, as Tracy has said in the podcast before, kind of video replay them going, uh, correctly. Um, things that I felt less sure of, Kev and I went through them multiple times, so I felt more confident about them. I felt a lot calmer within like the first, like, 15 minutes. I never felt rushed at any point, so that really helped me. I feel like I can, I had more control and at points where I was, you know, getting a bit ahead of myself, Kev would be like, maybe you could just go slower on that next. Maybe you could just slow down slightly. And then I felt like I had more control, so the periods where in the past would have, you know, got in my head and forgotten everything, I never got to that point because I was always feeling like I was in control. Which I suppose is the, the, the utmost sort of like, target you're looking for to be in control, isn't it? Yeah, absolutely. Like, I'm not, at the end of the day yesterday you were like, on the scale of confidence, like, where would you say you are? One is like a, you wouldn't be able to get in a car by yourself, ten is you're Lewis Hamilton. and, you know, I'm not Lewis Hamilton, I will never be Lewis Hamilton, but I, I know that after the day yesterday I wouldn't be able to get in a car and independently drive, but I, wasn't worried about anything I'd learn. I know that I knew that I had the potential with time today, tomorrow, to get to the point where I felt more comfortable doing these things. They became more like reflexes and I had time to think about the things that I would usually get stressed about like there's another car coming my way and I'm turning right, what do I do? So I see the potential now whereas I was very worried before this started that I would just be stuck in the same mindset throughout. So that's pretty cool. So let's look forward because I always like looking forward and the positivity. So what would, what's your thoughts on today then? What would you like to happen today? Yesterday we tried reversing into, tried, tried reversing into parking bays and while, uh, with Kev's guidance I did get into the parking bays, Most of the time, I was very reliant on you telling me the wheel possession, and I was getting that was the point where I was overthinking things, so I think today I would like to get to the point where I can do that a bit more independently, and I'm not questioning myself so much, so I think that's a definitely a practice thing because in my previous ten hours, I did gone into a parking bay once. So it was definitely something I was starting new yesterday. and yeah, maybe parallel parking. Yesterday I stalled on a hill start, uh, the most extreme hill start of the ones we did. So maybe I'd like to try that again and not stall on the first go. But again, yesterday when I did stall, I was like, Kev made sure that I was calm and all the situations were easily rectifiable, even when I stalled twice in a row. But, um, yes, it never felt like the end of the world, you know. so, Hill Starts, sorry, tangent, Hill Starts is what I'd like to do today and reversing into parking space. So again, that sounds like a really good, because you've got a clear Goal. Target. Plan. So yeah, so let's do another one at the end of today and see how you feel. Cool. Brilliant. Thank you. So, morning Jess. Hey Kev. beginning of day three then. So, let's have a little reflect on day two. What are your thoughts on day two? Uh, day two I felt like I challenged myself more. and you challenged me more in a positive way. you know day one we did a lot of repetitive routes, uh, which was really good for helping build my confidence and kind of getting to the swing of things. Yesterday, we did day two. similar routes but took different turnings each time. So we're on familiar roads but nothing was the same. We followed the satnav, we did parallel parking, which actually on the way to my lesson yesterday I listened to your episode with Tracy where you talked about parallel parking and I came to you being like, oh the one two one method sounds interesting, and then we did that and actually parallel, I found parallel parking a lot easier than I thought I would because of that. so yeah, we did parallel parking yesterday, we did reverse bay parking, which was a lot better after trying parallel parking as well. we did big roundabouts, we did dual carriageways, so we did a lot of things that I didn't think we'd be doing on day two. So how's that helped with your confidence now that you've said what we've achieved so far? How's your confidence now? Yeah, it's good. I mean, I know that I still have a way to go. I don't think I could sit a test tomorrow and pass, but I now know that we've done kind of the basics of everything. So it's now just kind of fine tuning it. Realising my weak spots, which are I need to like, have more control of my speed when I'm pulling into junctions and roundabouts, but that will hopefully come with time and my confidence will only improve over the next couple of days. Brilliant. And if you're thinking of today, then I know that we've had a little chat before we started this. So what have you done to sort of like prepare for today? Um, well I had a good sleep last night. That always helps. It always helps. Um, I think just reviewing the things I've done already, so I know that I've done it, and thought a bit about you know we, at the end of every day we go through notes about what went well and what I would like to improve on. And so kind of refreshing that, knowing that the areas I'd like to tackle today are building my confidence when coming into junctions, and just, yeah, getting more comfortable with what we've done before already. Brilliant. And is there anything in particular that you feel is still missing from what we've done so far? Um, It's a bit more of a challenging question though. I mean, I'm sure there are lots of things that I haven't done, like I think, hotspots in town centres we haven't really done as much of because, You know, we started on a Sunday and, uh, yesterday the roads weren't so busy, but we did, we, I had a taste of one at the end of yesterday and I went, it was, I think it was a red lights into a mini roundabout into a mini roundabout into a zebra crossing and it all happened so quickly and I got through it. But I immediately went, I'd like to do that again. And it's also quite nice to have that point of view where I'm having challenging situations and not going, I never want to do that again. It's immediately like, I would like to try that again because I know I could be better at that. So yeah, I think doing hotspots, um, refreshing things that I was weakest on yesterday. I think we said we were going to try and turn on the radio a little bit today because I haven't driven with any distractions so far. I tried to have a conversation with you about tennis the other day. And I, I, I couldn't vocalise what I was saying so maybe actually, um, getting to the point where I'm not having to focus on everything. Obviously I want to maintain focus but I'm okay with, you know, people talking to me because hopefully at one point in the future I will have passengers and I don't want to ignore them for six hours. So, yeah. That could be fun, couldn't it? Ignoring passengers. How tempted are you to talk? So we're going to have a bit of singing today then? Yeah. Kistery, obviously. There are other radio stations available. I've listened to your podcast before, I know how it works. I'm literally going to have some more fun. Yeah. and then we'll see how it goes and then wait for the next instalment. Yeah. Fantastic. So, morning Jess. Morning Kev. Beginning of day four, so let's have a quick recap again like we normally do. So day three, what was your thoughts on day three? Day three was kind of still progressing, learning more, but also slightly fine tuning what I'd learnt the previous day. I felt like I made progress by the end of the day. Again, I think as we were driving back to the station, you went, What kind of route do you want back? And I said, a challenging one. Um, which I'm proud of myself for saying that. I obviously, I didn't nail it. but it was still good to have done that and get more familiar. And I'm proud of myself for like pushing further and being like a challenge rather than being like, please take me all through twenties and really nice roads or actually if you could just get it back in the driving seat. Yeah. That'd also be nice. So thinking of confidence after yesterday. Where would you say you are now? I'd say on a scale of one to ten. I am probably a Six? Mainly because, as I just said to Kev, I had a stress dream last night about dinging a car. Um, but, uh, yeah, I mean, on the scale, I don't know if we previously said this, the scale of ten is Lewis Hamilton levels of confidence. So I'd say six is actually quite high. I think I said I was a four a couple of days ago, but also before. When I said I was a four, we hadn't done the difficult things. I was a four for like driving around twenties and thirties. Yeah, so I would say a six is quite good progress. I don't think I'll ever be a person that says I'm a 10, um, So, uh, six, I'm happy with six, 6.5. Let's say 6.5. I love that. I love that. So if you are thinking what's left, Or what are we going to be doing that's going to make it a 7 or 7. 5? So yesterday we did lots of things that I think were challenging, and I would like to feel more confident doing them specifically. So reading road, following road signs, um, especially when the road signs aren't facing the way that they're supposed to be facing. So getting more confident, spotting them, slowing down, taking them in. we haven't done slip roads yet, so I'd like to do that. Yeah, I think, um, we did a lot of hotspots as well yesterday, and I think I'd like to do them again. Specifically challenging was around the time that kids were leaving school. And while I didn't run any children over, and wasn't close to running any children over, I would like to do that again, to know that I will not run any children over. and also today, the goal for the end of the day is to be able to, uh, Independent drive in the truest sense, but I also need to remember, sorry, I'm now just going on a I also need to remember that we've said before that even in a driving test no drive is perfect, like no driving instructor or, or examiner has seen a perfect drive. You will like, even if you don't have minors, you know, there might be some slight things. So I need to remember that even if by the end of the day, I'm not driving perfectly, that doesn't happen in real life. And I might make mistakes and you might have to correct me. I'm buzzed. Okay. Yeah. Good. So it sounds like we've got a plan. It sounds also like that we've made significant progress over the last three days of what we've been doing. And getting to day four where you're going Yeah, that's okay and I'm, you know want to be challenged and you know, now I want to be I just drive on my own. Not literally, but Get up! So that's the sort of thing we're going to be working on today. Yeah. And, um, yeah, hopefully we'll be able to get towards that goal. Yeah. Brilliant. Thanks Jess. So, morning Jess. Morning Kev. day five. Day five. Day five, it seems to have gone so quick. It does, yeah. But the sun is shining still, so that's always nice. And I've worn black, uh, it's a sensible decision. Me too, funnily enough, I've just noticed, I've been like, oh no, why have I done that? Anyway, so day four, what's your thoughts on day four? Day four, I was quite nervous at the beginning of the day, as I think I probably mentioned in Yesterday's episode. Yep. Installment. that I was independent driving was the goal but I wasn't sure that I was going to get to it. And by the end of the day, we did probably an hour in total worth of independent driving, I think. In the middle of the day there was a bit of a hiccup, I nearly, but I didn't. But I short circuited and I ran about when you said, turn right, I thought you meant into oncoming traffic. but we didn't turn into oncoming traffic, positive. But after that I kind of completely forgot how to drive. Which in some ways I'm glad it happened because I'd rather it happened now than in the test and I can kind of learn to stay calm. And I also know that I didn't turn into oncoming traffic and I've heard from other people who have since. so, you know, and then afterwards things went a lot more smoothly. When we did the, um, Independent driving. That was really great to kind of see that I could, I did know what was going on because I do come to you for reassurance being like, is it a 20? And you were like, yes. So instead of asking those questions, I just trusted my judgment. so that was great. at the end of the day, you asked me a question during driving, like a conversational question. And again, I just realized I can't multitask. So again, that was a good learning experience. So when the test, when they start asking me questions, I should answer with one word answers. Rather than trying to. explain the full story. But yeah, it was good in a really long tangent way. That was, it was good. It was a good day. Yeah. And sometimes that happens, you know, this is, I suppose, the way I'm teaching is not really to pass a test almost, although it is because that's part of what we're doing. Yeah. But also giving you those skills to think about, you know, what would happen if I was having a conversation while I was driving and, or the phone rang, you know, what would I do? Decline that call, it's illegal to use a phone while you're driving, unless it's, you know, hands free, but that sounds terrifying to me, I don't want to do that, thank you. So that is sort of these, these experiences, isn't it? And I think we need to not just really think of, you know, Driving is the skill, but what happens, when your emotions come into it? It's like, what are they calling me? What's going on? What's, what's happening? Who would I invite for that dinner? My answer was Jessica Mitford, and it's really hard to explain who Jessica Mitford is while you're facing too many roundabouts in a zebra crossing. Just don't, don't do it. Um, go for someone like, easier. I don't know. I can't think of anyone else. I was just about to say that, I better not say that. We'll be here for a while. So confidence wise, what would you say your confidence is like now? Alright, yesterday was at 6. 5 which feels like it was a little bit premature for being a 6. 5 now in reflection. I would say, okay, I'm gonna say a 7. 25. I know it doesn't seem like a huge increase. But as I say, 10 is Lewis Hamilton, so I'm never going to get to there. Um, but in my mind it feels like I made a lot of progress and maybe 6. 5 yesterday was a little bit too like Except that I'm happy with the 7. 5. Ideally on test day I would like to be at like an 8, because I still know that things can go wrong and I've only been driving really for four days. So I really feel like anything higher would just be a little bit too narcissistic. So what are you hoping for for today? I'm more into independent driving, I want to do the things I have struggled with. So there's a thing that I've been calling the Triangle of Doom, which I know is not its actual name. It's just a junction that goes into another road and you have to go slow your speed from quite fast to basically fast and it's kind of around a blind bend. So I'd like to do that again, well I wouldn't really, but I probably should, just get more, do parking a couple more times, just to get, So basically the first time Kevin and I did Parallel Parking I kind of aced it, and I feel like that might have been a fluke. So I just want to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and that I actually can do that. I yesterday just missed every other parking bay that I tried so I'd like to do those again. knowing that I can do them yesterday was just a bit too much for me. fast. and yeah, I think just more independent driving. That, that's kind of my goal. Oh, and a mock test. I think I'm on a mock test. Oh, and show me, tell me questions and show me, tell me questions so much. But it's going to be good cause we're split up cause the sunshine, it's always nice to get out of the car. And again, history of the radio stations are available, but Marvin Humes is really nailing it this week. Well done Marvin. I'm sure he's going to be very pleased to be mentioned on our podcast. Yeah, I'm all at him. He helps with the driving. He does, yeah. He doesn't realise it, but he's helping us. So, let's go and have some fun. Yeah. Let's see where we are at the end of day five. Mm hmm. and then we'll go from there. I hope it's not like, In tears. Our aim is not to cry today. Our aim is not to cry. No tears have been shed thus far. Unless they're tears of joy. Yeah, which, let's hope for those on Friday. Fantastic. So, morning Jess. Morning Kev. Day 6 seems to have flown by to us. Oh yeah. as always, what I'm going to get you to do is just reflect back on day 5 and just tell me your thoughts and feelings on day 5. Day 5. Okie dokie. right. Day 5, at the beginning of the day, smooth. I was independent driving, was making very like small minor mistakes that were easily corrected that I spotted straight away and would correct, you know, I was feeling good. And then in the afternoon we did a mock test and I immediately stalled on a hill start multiple times to the point that it would have been a major. And then after that I panicked and I got three majors and seven minors. so, but it was a test and we're glad that it happened because we don't want to go into today too cocky. I also got some gnarly sunburn, and I think I blame it on the jeans yesterday, but I blamed it on the jeans to Kev, I was wearing very tight jeans and it did not make for a good it was really hot. But I'm blaming everyone else but myself, I was really tired, you know, the sun was shining, the tunes weren't as good on Kisterine, no offence Marvin. no, but uh, it was good that that happened, because I know what to focus on now. I realized that I just need to stay calm. but I reflect on the morning. The morning was great. I did good things on the morning and if the test went on the morning then maybe I would have passed. And I think that's a really valid point isn't it? There's loads of points there. Where do we start? Junes. The heat. The heat. The heat. Oh, and I also refused to put on the air con because I was kind of scared that it would need a little more gas and, higher biting points, so I left the windows open all day, and then at one point during the mock test, I closed them because I was going really fast, but then I was too scared to put the air con on, and so we, it just became a sauna. It's good for our weight loss though, we did do that. I forgot to wear the shell suit today, dammit. So, I've lost my train of thought now thinking of shell suits and saunas. So, if you're thinking, we'll go back to that confidence. You said yesterday morning it was really good, you know, just a couple of minor mistakes, wasn't it? how does that make you feel saying that now? Yeah, alright, I think I just need to, I've seen where panic gets me, and it's not, it's not good. So I think I just need to remember to breathe, go slowly, once I start the test today. and also knowing that if I make a major mistake at the beginning, it doesn't mean the rest of the test is out the window. I can still do well. Obviously I won't pass, but passing isn't the end goal. Being a confident and capable and calm driver is the end goal. So, As long as I can bring it back to that, and then, and also if I do fail today with three, three majors and seven minors, again, I know, I've only been driving really since Sunday, so I should be proud of that, and, you know, I can always do more lessons. So, but, yeah. That's a positive aspect, isn't it? It's not really about a test. The test allows you to do whatever you want it to do. But it's more about being a confident driver. And I'm going to use that word you used earlier, smooth. And if we can be smooth, Nine times out of ten it's safe. Yes, um, yeah, on the whole, not in the test situation, I have been smooth and that is what I wanted. I wanted to be, you know, and I am, I have made so much progress since Sunday that, um, I can't really discount that just because I might for 35 minutes completely forget everything, um, but. You know, but I know that I know it. The thing is, I know that I know it. I was like, watching videos last night, and I wasn't learning anything new. Like, I knew all of it. Like, I don't know why I was watching videos, because they weren't helping me really any. Um, because I knew everything. I mean, I was just watching them going, okay, I would break now, and I would change it now. yeah, um, but, you know, that also helped me realise that I did know everything. I just need to, you know, Try and remember everything. Brilliant. So, the sun is shining. So much. We've got the aircon on. The car is lying. It says it's 21 degrees. It is 26 degrees outside. And we're just about to put the music on. We are. And then we're going to have a nice smooth drive. Yes. And we'll talk again later on. Yep. Eurgh. So, we are now at the end of our course of lessons, I suppose, when it ended with the test. So, before we talk much more, I just want to ask a question. So, how confident are you now, Jess, would you say, compared to where you started the week? Well, Kev, I could take on Lewis Hamilton. No, I couldn't. but I am confident. miles more confident. yeah, I mean, I think I, on the first, at the end of the first day, I think I said I was like a four, then I, at one 25, and now I'd say about like a nine. Yeah, not like, again, Lewis Hamilton is the broader, let's say, yeah, 8. 59, yeah, because everyone can be a better driver. Everyone can always improve. Which is a lovely saying, isn't it? and practice makes better. Yes, indeed practice makes better, not perfect, better. So, what would you say your key moments have been during this week then, would you say? I think it's been equally important to make progress as to mess up. So, I think I've, I've I am a negative person, I remember all the negatives, but listening to Kev and Tracey's podcast previously, you know, Tracey talked about the video, the movie screen video method where you remember the positives and you replay them in your mind so you feel more confident doing that, and I think Kev and I did manoeuvres that I wasn't so confident with to the point that I was then so confident that I had those memories that I can play back, so it was important for me not to be able to do them so I could get to the point that I could then do them, and also when I Manoeuvres went wrong, I know how to correct them and be able to replay those memories in my head as well. Knowing that, and I got to the point where, at the end of it, I knew that I knew everything I needed to know. It was just a case of going to the test and if something went wrong in the test, it wasn't because I was a bad driver. It was because I just, the nerves got to me. It wasn't because I just didn't have the information, I had all the information I needed. So, would you say now that you are A better driver? Oh, then on Sunday when I couldn't, I was, I asked you how to start the car because I couldn't remember. Yeah, I would say, yeah, I would say as a better driver. And how would you say this, this course has helped you? I'm going to say not just in driving as well, but what do you think you've learned from it? Oh, massively, like I think, you know, it's very good at, one of the key lessons we've had over the past couple of days is, Slow down when you're about to come at a junction. It applies to slow down when you're about to deal with something really stressful. You can't, you can't turn around a roundabout with your accelerator. And you can, but it's not best. You're not going to feel in control of the situation. Like slow down, look around at others, make sure everyone else is okay. It's a, it's a valuable lesson for life. So, let's, let's fast forward today then. And we had our test. Yeah. Or should I say, we had your test. Not my test, it was your test. And how did you feel beforehand? I was nervous, but, so my test was at 11. 01. I got to Kev just before nine. We had a little bit of a drive. Which was all relatively independent roads that we were familiar with which really eased my any nerves I was feeling this morning I was actually okay this morning. I was more nervous last night as we got closer and closer to the test So we practiced some maneuvers. We went for we went for well, we went for a coffee beforehand Which was again our routine that we've been doing all this week Again, wouldn't change my order because I thought it was bad karma But I don't know maybe a food poisoning with a coffee But that helped with the routine settled down wasn't just driving consistently for like two hours before my test You Then we went and did some manoeuvres just beforehand, and we got there in good time. And when we got there, I wasn't as nervous as I thought I was going to be. I was still a little bit nervous, but, I think you would be in that situation. But I was generally, you know, we'd done this morning, and this morning I hadn't made loads of mistakes. And even if I had, apparently that's normal. So, um, yeah, no, I felt, longwind dancer, nervous, but on the whole manageable nerves. Um, yeah. That's a lovely, that's lovely. Manageable nerves. You could manage them. Yeah, I could tell them to pipe down. Hehehehehehe It starts like that. So, how about in the test then? What was, what's your thoughts of the test itself? The test itself, it went by really quickly until the last ten minutes where I knew it was going to be the last ten minutes and then it felt like it went on forever. it was, I was expecting To not to be able to chat at all because I just freak out, but we had a little, little natter. My, at the beginning of this week, I was like, Oh, you know, examiners to kind of just want to trip you up, not trip you up, but they want to like, they're so aware that things might go wrong and they're not going to react to those in a, in a positive way. And you know what, like Tracy, who was my examiner, put my mind at ease kind of straight away. You know, she was chatty to me, but also. She was just kind, obviously. and, at points where I did mess up, she wasn't going, she was like, very understanding. It was more me beating myself up than her getting her iPad out and ticking off a bad thing straight away. If she did tick off bad things, which she, spoiler alert, did do, she did it very subtly and I really didn't notice. At one point I clocked it and I was like, you know what, that happened. I don't know if it's a major, I don't know if it's a minor, but I'm gonna move on. Um, So I suppose we better tell everyone, the result. We've kept it a little bit back till the end. So this is what this week has been all about really. Not so much a test, but building confidence and be able to get to a point where someone says that you can drive on your own or that you need some more lessons. So, what was the result of the test? I passed! Yeah! Um, I passed. Sorry, I could have done that in a more dramatic drum roll. Um, yeah, I passed, I passed. I haven't actually looked at how many minors I got. I think I got around four or five. but I clocked when they were happening. You know, I, I stalled, which is annoying because I haven't been stalling, but that was just the pressure environment. I think my nerves crept up the longer I did the test. and the examiner herself did comment the fact that I was quite nervous. It might be my giant sweat patches, that kind of gave it away. I don't know. But, on the whole, I wasn't as nervous as I thought it was going to be. It went far better than the mock yesterday. Um, so yeah, no, it was really positive and I did do a little happy dance when I passed at the end, so. So, if, this is the ultimate question before we're going to leave this one. Do you feel confident now, if you had a car in Leyton Buzzard, Yeah. that you could get in that car and drive somewhere Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, if, I mean, as I said to Kev earlier, I mean, I live in London, and I, the roads are slightly, they're not different, but in my mind they're slightly different, so I think, I would feel fine driving in London, I think I'd just like to have someone in the car with me just the first time I do it, but in Nathan Buzzard, yeah, I'm, I could drive by myself, although Kev's company is great, so, you know. Um, yeah, and I could drive by myself in Lake and Buzzard. I can drive by myself in London. I actually think I'd feel more comfortable maybe somewhere outside London because I've now done country roads, I've done higher speeds. people drive more horribly in London and there are more hazards, but I'm aware of them. It's not like I wouldn't be able to drive. So I just need to now tell myself that I can drive wherever I am. Fantastic. And remember, you've always got Marvin on history as well. Yeah, exactly, exactly. He, uh, yeah, he was playing some bops during a test actually. He was on earlier than I thought, and the stars aligned. yeah. He came out for your test for you. He did. Thank you, Marvin. So, congratulations, Jess. Thank you so much for a great week. I've really enjoyed it. And, enjoy your freedom. Thanks. Yeah, thanks so much. I've really enjoyed this week. Circuit. I, for one, really enjoyed listening to your daily reflections and putting them together into a podcast episode. So I really hope all our listeners enjoyed that as well. Because for me, I felt that that gave a really interesting insight into the thoughts and feelings of somebody learning to drive. It was almost like being a fly on the wall. It was. I mean, it's only really. four or five minutes of the whole day. which really doesn't bear justice to what we were doing, but it does give you an insight into what was happening so yeah, that. I love the week totally different to what I normally do. But again, just being able to give my time to to Jess as well, because I wasn't really doing much else that week. And the sun was shining. Looking back, the week was great for me, and I really, really enjoyed it. We had highs, we had lows, but that's normal. I love doing what I do. but there is always highs and lows. And if you're doing a hobby or you're into sports or whatever it is, there's going to be highs and lows. It's part of the learning journey, isn't it? When you're learning any new skill. But this is, this is like, it's normal. If you can normalize that, I think it makes it easier to move forward. I think if you can do it in a positive way, there is no failures, really. They're just learning opportunities. We're in a controlled environment. And what I mean by that is, um, We are allowed to make mistakes. My students are allowed to make mistakes. I will risk manage the situation so they can learn best. You know, I'm still making sure we don't crash. I still make sure, you know, people are around us are aware of what we're doing. But that gives the learner that opportunity to concentrate on what they want to work on. It's working on. What do they need to learn? What do they want to learn? And I think if you can bring those into, you know, what you do in, I think it was mentioned as well, everyday life, you know, this is driving and with driving in particular is what we do, but that was what we were working on all the way through the week. It's not just driving. It's how we feel, you know, if you had a bad day that, you know, how do we then get into a car? Yeah, what is going to be the, the outcome of getting into the car, feeling tired or whatever it may be. So, yeah, I've learned loads. it was really interesting doing the reflection like we did for this podcast, but also it encouraged me to reflect a little bit more on what we're doing. Yeah, and it sounds as if Jess copes really well with those highs and lows, the ups and downs as well, and there was a bit where she mentioned that she'd almost surprised herself where something maybe hadn't gone quite so well, but instead of thinking, Oh, I don't want to do that again. She was up for challenging herself and going, I found that tough. Let me do it again. I think I can do it better. And that's a great approach, isn't it? That's a great approach to come to learning new things. You're not always going to get it right first time. No, but I think if you realize you've got the skills to be able to do it. And I know Jess mentioned that she understood what she was doing and she knew how to do something. So the skills were there, the understanding was there. Maybe the situation was more challenging. Maybe there were more cars. Maybe there were tighter junctions or the vision was blocked. You know, there was lots of different things. But recognizing, okay, I need to do this, you know, and especially when she went home, she put a lot of effort into, you know, watching videos and how do we do this? How do we do that? And at the end of the week, she was actually saying, I'm watching this for the sake of it because I know what to do. Yeah. I think that's a really important point for listeners to pick up on if they didn't throughout listening to the reflections, because it was clear that Jess wasn't just showing up for the drive in. She was also looking at things outside of the drive in. She was listening to our podcast. So she, she, she exhausted, she mentioned the podcast and different things that we'd said several times. So it was clear that she was using the podcast as a resource. And she was also using other resources that are out there. So videos and information so that she was constantly filling in those. gaps in knowledge. So she really worked hard during that week. She, she focused on it. It was a proper project. This was what she was focusing on for the week. She treated it like a work project and rather than just showing up during the hours and expecting things to just drop into place. Instead, it's She put the work in. Yeah. And I think having just bite sized goals, you know, we did loads of bite sized goals during the week, which made it easier to actually formulate a plan. Yeah. You know, if you've got a massive goal, it's like, well, I'm never going to get there. And you've already started to think, well, this is, I'm not going to do that. So just having bite sized goals, try new things. Coffee breaks, you know, we loved our little coffee breaks where we could step away from the car, still talk about driving potentially, um, but he didn't have the, the actual drive inside of it there. So, you know, even though we was having lunch or whatever he was doing, it made it. more easier to understand and you can build on your knowledge. Yeah. And we, we talk about bite sized goals all the time. And when you were doing your reflection, you were starting off with what's the goal for today? Well, that's part of it, you know, I think this little bit at the beginning is what I normally do in lessons anyway, but Actually recording it, it was like, Oh yeah, because you're saying it out loud as well. And I think sometimes, you know, if you're listening to this and you're off, you know, you're a driver, you're a full license holder. Sometimes we take driving for granted. Yeah. And I think, again, one of the positives that I took away from this is, we can all reflect. I reflected, and it was like, okay, how am I doing this? What am I going to do? What's, what's the end goal? So how can I get there? What are those steps that we need to take? And obviously, Jess reached her goal and how amazing is that? Yeah, fantastic. And that reflection, it's an important part of a learning process. It's an important part of practice. Problem solving. So it is, it has a real place in when, whenever you're learning new things or trying to problem solve, taking time to reflect is when your brain processes information. So it's really important. And yeah, I mean, how amazing, but it was interesting to listen that while obviously passing the driving test was the. Ultimate goal. Jess also clearly recognized that the most important goal was that she'd made progress and that she'd learned to be able to drive safely. and that that information and knowledge is important. would take her forward, even if she hadn't passed her driving test. Yeah, the test wasn't really important. It was there. It was a goal to get towards, but noticing how you drive, noticing what you do, and it was really just another instructor sitting next to her for 40 minutes. So that's literally what was happening. Yeah. And she had that mindset where it was, I'm just going to drive. Yeah. And I loved, she wanted to drive independently. She'd, we'd, we'd, we've mentioned it so often in the podcast. She knew that that was a much clearer goal was, is she able to carry out this driving? Independently making her own decisions, understanding what she's doing and why. Because the test is just the in between bit. It's just the transition, isn't it? Because you need to be able to drive after you've passed your test. And as a follow up, Jess was driving that evening, wasn't she? She went home, got into her car, she went off driving. Yeah. So fantastic. And again, it's examiners are humans, you know, they're just there to assess whether or not you can drive safely. Yeah. And that again is something that I think people tend to forget. It's just showing someone that you can drive safely. So that evening, Jess went home and showed her husband, that she can drive. Yep. So that's great. I thought, you know, for me, that's the ultimate goal. Yeah, and it was fantastic to get those messages from her, wasn't it, that evening. So, and it sounds like you had a lot of fun. fun as well. This sun came up a lot as a theme through these reflections. I think, I think that's that learning environment, isn't it? You know, if you're there dreading what you're going to be doing and you've got pressure on yourself, it's not going to be fun. Um, we had so much fun. We had, you know, we made things fun. We made things easier for us. Because you're sitting in a car for six hours a day. Yeah. You know, that's tiring in itself. So trying to make a little bit of fun and make driving fun, you know, and enjoy it. Yeah. Lovely. And I suppose really one of the final things to look at is, is this for everybody? Do we recommend doing this type of intensive course for everyone? And I think it comes back to that one size doesn't fit all message that we often look across. I think it, it was certain people, I remember going back, I used to do a few of these intensive courses. I think it can be great in certain situations. It can be fantastic. if you just want a refresher, I think that's, it's a great way to do it. You know, get it done in a day has been brilliant for us. and the people that have been doing it. doing them. I think these intensive courses, if you've got a test at the end of it, that could be quite, and you've never driven before, I think that could put the pressure on you. but coming into something like gesture, she had a little bit of previous experience, not a lot, but a little, and then being able to build on that. but it might well be, if you want to, Get started quick. Yes. You know, you want that. You're the type of person that I want to learn to drive. You've got your car at home. Let me learn how to drive and then I can go and drive my car. Yes. Go and have some practice, book a test later, take away that pressure of having a test at the end. Yeah. You've gained that knowledge and understanding of how to drive safely. Then you go away and practice it and maybe just have a few. intermittent lessons before the test and you've got to wait six months for your test at the moment anyway. Yeah. So it makes perfect sense to do it this way, but again it won't suit everybody because it will be too tiring for some people, but other people will just You know, they will just jump into it and enjoy it. Yeah. So it's not for everybody, but it can be great if that's your style. Exactly. Lovely. So that just leaves us then to say, huge congratulations to Jess. And thank you for recording those reflections, that audio diary, almost of the week and giving us the opportunity to be a fly on the wall. Yeah, it was brilliant. It was brilliant. Jess was great. You know, she was, an ideal student. So on that note, if you'd like to get in touch, all of our contact details are in the show notes. As always, and until next time, have a great day, whatever you're