r/driving•
Moccaroon

Is it normal to feel horrible after your first driving lesson?

Need Advice

So, I just started taking my driver's license and just had my first driving lesson today. I was super anxious beforehand, especially because I had to take my first lesson at night. Despite all that, I surprisingly felt pretty alright while I was actually in the car. But the second I set foot outside the vehicle... oh my god. Instant waterworks. I felt like I was the biggest screw-up in the history of driving.

And like, it's not even that I think it went bad. I managed my speed and gear shift very well for a first timer, I stayed in my lane and oriented myself well enough despite the darkness. In the hour I was driving, the car only stalled like two times and my instructor only had to step in three times, twice to steer the wheel because I was driving a little close to the curb and to swerve past an unexpected stopped car after a turn, and once to brake the car because I was about to miss the parking lot at the very end of the lesson.

Like, certainly mistakes here and there, but things that are to be expected of a first timer and not anything near damning. It just FELT so crushingly devastating after the fact, like I'd made every mistake and that I won't ever be good enough to pass the test. Is this a normal feeling to have? And will that feeling ever go away? I'm guessing it's just all the stress of the whole lesson hitting me all at once in that one moment, but that's not any less discouraging. Any advice and/or encouragement is highly appreciated

Posted Dec 3, 2025, 1:28 AM UTC

36
Loading comments…