<p>I won’t be able to drive until next year in September when I turn 16 (11th grade), but I will probably have to drive once I am able to. This is because my school changed the boundaries and so next year there will be no more buses from where I live to my school. And my parents both work so that’s the only way me and my sister will be able to go to school. Plus, I live in California and we have to pay hundreds of dollars for a school bus pass anyways so it doesn’t really save that much money if you drive an old car. If you have a big family and your parents both work and there is no bus service you pretty much have to drive.</p>
<p>I won’t be able to drive until November of 11th grade, and I live 30 mins walking from the town center (where all the shops are) so whatever my job will be next year (when I turn 16, so also in November) (and on top of 4 APs and 3 Honors classes, plus ECs…!) I will do ECs after school, do HW on the late bus, which takes 45 minutes to get to the town center, work a couple hours, walk the 30 minutes home (in the winter it’s gonna be pitch-black…) and then at 7:00 mash my 5+ hours of homework into 3. This connects to cars, because I would get over 1:15 mins back if I could drive, but the extended travel time is the sacrifice I will have to make for the no-car situation.</p>
<p>Where I go to school, probably 85% of kids that are old enough to drive do drive. Most of them work in the summer and bought their car from that. My parents did buy me a new car for my 16th birthday and I’m pretty grateful. </p>
<p>A third of the kids (who can drive) in my school drive really expensive luxury cars (although it’s not necessarily a matter of showing off, just that their family has an extra car or something and isn’t going to waste their money buying another car for them), albeit ones that are a few years old. Another third uses four or five-year-old Hondas and Toyotas that used to belong to one of their parents. And the last third uses old, junky cars (although I’d actually say this is only, like, 20%; the middle division is the largest). Pretty much everyone at my school belongs to a really, really rich family though (we’re almost 100% upper-middle class and upper class (like 50% of the people belong to the 5%); a few people lower than that, but no one in the lower class at all–the median income of the parents is 160k). </p>
<p>I take it the OP is using the “confusion over the car” as a basis for just ranting about wealthy students. </p>
<p>i drive a cheap car paid for with money i won from certain competitions last year, and I also have a job which I use to pay for my gas</p>
<p>i am in the middle class</p>
<p>thoughts?</p>
<p>@Ctesiphon Totally respectable, I amend you for it, kids need to learn how to earn things. </p>
<p>@lostaccount Spot on. Also, transportation is a huge burden in my life, I will be waitress next year, this means after ECs, a 30 minute late-bus ride, 15 minute walk in the winter it will be completely dark and icy and definietly below freezing!!) Then work 2-3 hours, then do grocery shopping, then hitch a ride home from parents who are also returning home at 8:00 from work, OR take the sketchy city bus. Then comes the hours of homework for my rigorous schedule. All of the above would be less stressful with a car, ergo, I rant.</p>
<p>I live in a middle class, rural community, and most kids with cars save up their money to buy them, or (the lucky ones) receive a cheap, used car as a sixteenth birthday present.</p>
<p>I, on the other hand, prefer to save that money for my gap year. To each his own! There is no public transportation, so it’s the choice between having freedom to go places and really being stuck at home/in town. </p>
<p>Both of my parents retired by the first half of Senior year. That means they didn’t need both cars anymore so I got to share one.
Well, they’re on pretty good pension and have saved up enough for my entire college, so I’m still borrowing the car for my commute to college. Yes, I’m spoiled or privileged whatever you call it and use my work money on eating and hanging out.</p>
<p>They don’t mind, knowing that I’m on track to a well paying engineering job, they’re going to shell out the money for me. While my brother on the other hand is 25 years old and doesn’t get as much parental support as a college dropout.</p>