By: Margo Rawlings and Macy Dennon

Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief

It is safe to say that I, Macy Dennon, am now terrified to be on the roads. At every intersection I am looking over my shoulder just in case I see a black Audi coming towards me at full speed, no indication of stopping any time soon. Who would be driving said car, you may ask? Well, it is our very own El Gato staffer Margo Rawlings.

While this new driver prepared herself for the big day of her driver’s test, her mother plastered her car with “STUDENT DRIVER” stickers. Now, one or two may be perfect for some, but try four, and even then it was not enough warning for the poor people on the road. Now do not get me wrong, I think this girl is smarter than I am when it comes to school, but oh my lord does she have zero, and I mean zero, street smarts. In fact, I have a notes page on my phone dedicated to the moments when I have thought to myself, “there is no way this girl is serious.” Here are a few of my favorite quotes: “how did the world go from one to two humans?” and “in Australia did you know you don’t get in trouble for driving on the other side of the road?” Oh my personal favorite moment, when she didn’t know where any of the states were located on the United States map, the epitome of intelligence. Simple things baffle her, which I believe is one of the main reasons why driving is a true challenge for her. Driving requires a keen intuition and street smarts; I love her, but oh boy does Rawlings have neither. I am genuinely terrified for her life on the road. 

Margo’s perspective: 

As the driver in question, I cannot exactly explain how I managed to pass my driving test. Naturally, too afraid to take on the dreaded Los Gatos DMV, I initially decided to take my test in Santa Teresa; that was until I couldn’t make it out of the DMV drive through without hitting the curb, so I knew it was time to pivot. My final choice was the Capitola DMV, seeing as many of my friends had passed there. During my final driver’s lesson, a handful of minor mistakes, like turning the incorrect direction, not remembering my lefts from my rights, and occasionally zoning out while on the road, resulted in my driving instructor saying I had “a low chance of passing,” but should remember that I “could always retake it.” I prepared myself by writing Ls and Rs on my hands in purple pen, and contrary to his beliefs, I did pass. Maybe not with flying colors, but I passed nonetheless (I had ten errors). All of my mistakes came from either not stopping at stop signs or stopping past the white line, so I’d call it a success. 

Having now had my license for almost three weeks, I would say that I’ve been pretty successful in every aspect of driving, except for one key piece: parking. Last weekend, I was forced to recruit a stranger from the sidewalk to help reverse my car out of a parking spot, saving me from hitting the car parked next to me. And a couple days ago, I failed to park correctly in the senior parking lot after practice, ending with me in between two spots, which resulted in laughter from various passerbyers. Thankfully, senior McKenzie Powell saved the day by fixing my questionable parking job, and moving my car into a singular parking spot.