With two hands on the wheel—or alternating as I lean one arm on my window sill— I can’t think of something that brings more comfort to me than driving.

Most of the time, I’m doing at least three things at once.  Cell phone in hand or back pocket, I’ll work on my homework or play around on the computer, listening to music or watching television at the same time.  Behind the wheel of a car is the only place where I am focused on one thing the whole time.

The discipline that it takes to center attention to a single action for an extended period of time has become an art.  The time that I spend driving is the only time that I truly focus on one thing.  I keep my eyes on the road and allow myself to leave everything else behind.  As opposed to my mind being stretched to cover activities all interrupting each other, my mind is condensed down to one point when I’m behind the wheel.  It is this control that takes strength as opposed to the lazy fluttering of attention paid to most activities.

Single-mindedness is not a negative facet to a personality all the time.  It is this single-mindedness that has allowed me to do some of my best thinking, reflection, and preliminary writing.

I think that driving is something that many kids are not exposed to in the correct way.  Driving is therapeutic for those who can find respite in allowing everything but the road in front of them and the thoughts probing their brains to fall behind.

I have been fortunate enough to grow up in an area that is at least 20 minutes from anything remotely useful.  I probably spend at least 45 minutes in the car every day.  Instead of trying to talk to my friends while driving, I put everything down.  I let my mind work out the things that have been bothering it.  I take in the scenery that other people seem to forget.

Most students at this school live within a few minutes of their friends, the school, and most destinations.  With short stints of drive-time, it’s easy to see how easy it could be to send a single text message at a stoplight.  When I’m spending my 20 to 25 minutes in my car to school, it would be difficult to keep up text conversations.

Here’s my secret though: I use the distance of my drive and the fact that I live on “windy back roads” as an excuse to escape from social society.

When I was taught to drive, I was taught to enjoy it and to use it as a relaxer.  I think that if teens were taught to see driving as an escape from the hustle and bustle of high school academic and social life, they would be more open to the idea of allowing oneself to leave everything else for a few minutes and clear your head.

Driving, when enjoyed, is not nearly as dangerous as driving while trying to keep up with a million other stressful things.  Being consumed in the simple joy of finally being able to drive a vehicle is enough to do.  If being in a car wasn’t supposed to be enjoyable, there would be no use in having so many roads to travel.