Hi my name is Lulu and I'm 20 years old (turning 21 in October)I'm originally from NYC where you don't need a car, but I moved to Miami, FL in 2001 when I was 15 years old, and you definitely need a car there. At that time I was just starting my sophmore year of high school, in Miami when you're in the 10th grade you get a semester of Drivers Ed, something they didn't offer at my high school in NYC. I started freaking out right away, and the first time I got behind the wheel, while making a turn I hit a cone, some of the kids were laughing, which made me feel like crap, plus the teacher would constantly yell at me, which made me feel even more nervous. I hated that class with a passion, and I would skip the class as many times possible only coming to class the days that we did book work. At the end of the term the teacher gave the students a slip that we could take to the driver lisence place, and we would get our permit, Guess who didn't end up getting hers? Yep, you guessed it, Me! So when sophomore year ended, I decided to get my permit over the summer, and studied all of the questions for the test, I ended up passing it, and got my permit, but I still refused to get behind the wheel of a car. This was in 2002, and we are now in 2007 last week I had had enough of having my mother drive me all over the place. I'm a college student and can't drive, while one of my friends whos 2 years younger drives like a pro, and it just seems like it's a piece of cake for her. So, why can't I do the same? My permit expired and I have no lisence, so last week I tried to get over my fear decided to start driving around the community where I live, and so far so good my mom said I was pretty good. Today I decided to go on the road, and I started freaking out once I got on the road. My leg started shaking, I got sweaty palms and feet, and became lightheaded and felt like I was gonna faint, my mom was saying I was driving too close to the sidewalk, and I heard some cars honking at me. Everytime I had to make a turn I felt like I was gonna go over the sidewalk and run over someone. When I got home, I felt completely depressed, my mom called a driving instructor, and mentioned I got really nervous on the road, but he said not to worry he was going to eliminate that fear off me, so the lesson will be for 2 hours on Wednesday morning, and I really just feel like I can't do it. I just feel so useless, and at this point I'm thinking on moving back to NYC. I just think to myself why can't I be like everyone else and drive? I am glad to see that I'm not alone, and that's why I joined this community, so I can get this out of my system, because just a few people that I know well know about my fear of driving, but we don't talk about it. Many people that I meet at school I've actually lied to, by telling them I can drive, because I just think it's so embarrasing!