Blog Post Twenty Two - “Get in Loser We Are Going Shopping…”

I’m 21 years old and, until now, I’ve never had a driver’s license.

It’s a confession that tends to stop conversations in their tracks. The reactions are predictable: raised eyebrows, puzzled questions, the inevitable “Wait, you don’t drive?”—as if I’ve admitted to never using a phone or riding a bike. But behind that unexpected detail lies a journey not marked by missed driving tests or procrastination, but by a very different kind of road.

At fifteen, while many of my American peers were maneuvering their parents’ cars around quiet suburban cul-de-sacs, I was stepping off a plane into an entirely new world. I had just left my home in Nicaragua amid political unrest and civil turmoil to attend boarding school abroad. I was learning how to adapt to a new culture, speak a new language, and find my footing as a young teenager living thousands of miles from everything familiar.

Driving, in those years, wasn’t a priority. Survival was. My milestones didn’t come with keys and learner’s permits—they came in the form of navigating ‘adult’ paperwork, mastering English one conversation at a time, and figuring out how to belong in a world that moved fast, but not in the way you might think.

Looking back, I don’t feel embarrassed about not having a license earlier. I was busy learning to steer in a different direction: learning independence, resilience, and how to adapt in circumstances far outside the norm. While my peers were learning how to make three-point turns, I was learning how to turn uncertainty into growth.

But now, at 21, I’m ready. Not because I’m trying to catch up or conform, but because this is the right time for me. I’m signing up for driving lessons, diving into the manual, showing up at the DMV with a stack of documents I’m still decoding—but I’m doing it. And I’m doing it on my terms.

What I’ve learned is this: the timeline you’re on doesn’t need to match anyone else’s. Whether you get your license at 16 or 26, there’s no expiration date on growth. We each have our own path, and sometimes, the most powerful move you can make is owning the pace of your journey.

So to anyone feeling behind—whether it’s getting a license, choosing a career, or figuring out who they want to be—you’re not late. You’re simply living a different story. And that story is valid.

Yes, I’m 21 and just now learning how to drive. But I’ve been in the driver’s seat of my own life for a long time.

This is just the next road I’m ready to take.

And when I do? I won’t just drive.
I’ll arrive—with purpose.