Right Master Yoda Was

"You must unlearn what you have learned." - Master Yoda, Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back

Ever since I've started driving, the only vehicle that I have really driven was "KC", our 1998 Toyota Light Ace. She's an automatic transmission so, I had really gotten used to driving automatic cars, specifically AUV types. But the very first car that I had driven while I was learning how to drive was Archie's mom's car which was a manual transmission Toyota Corolla. It was mainly because my older brother would never have let me drove "KC" if I didn't get to at least experience driving a manual.

But it had been years since that very first driving lesson. And I am so used to driving an automatic that unfortunately for me, it's the only thing I can really drive with confidence. So, during this long period of unemployment, when my parents went to Bago City to surprise my grandmother on her birthday, I had pestered my father to reteach me how to drive a manual car.

And after that experience, I realized that Master Yoda was right by saying "you must unlearn what you have learned".

Archie was a good teacher. But his driving style is different from the driving style that I have. I mostly try to emulate both my father's and my older brother's style of driving. My older brother being the one who was giving me pointers on the road and my father, who even though he drives like an F1 driver, still manages to still be safe (though I have to check every now and then if I am still breathing or if my heart just stopped beating). So, when I was relearning how to drive a manual (so that I can actually be like my brother and father who can drive both), it was no surprise that I didn't do well on my first outing. My dad just laughed it off and tried to tell me how to do it right.

While my dad was teaching me, I still tried to recall all the things Archie taught me when I asked him for driving lessons. Turns out that was the reason why I was making so many mistakes. My dad has seen how I drive and was trying to help me get used the feel of the manual by comparing it with the automatic. While I keep blocking what my dad was saying and kept coming back to what my friend was saying, I kept choking. Until finally, I just stopped remembering what Archie was saying and listened to my father's voice. After that, it was smooth sailing from there. I tried to keep at it, forgetting my first lesson and just remember the most recent one and I saw myself handling the car better and better at each corner that I turn and each hump that I pass through. In the end, my father let me drive a little farther out on our way from Bago to Bacolod pushing me to go from first gear to fifth gear. I was doing well...until my dad had to let me stop so that he can drive the rest of the way there...I choked the engine once more so that it died, though not before I parked it on the side safely.

I do admit that when it comes to driving a manual, I still have a lot to learn. Especially when the area is prone to traffic...I still have a hard time keeping the engine running idly when the car stops...so I really need to learn. But what I do realize is that Yoda did well in teaching this little lesson to me. Things change as time passes, so we have to little by little unlearn what we have learned to open our minds to new things. It may even help us improve on things that we currently know.