Everyone has heard at least once in their life the old clichés “Anything can happen at any moment,” or “Expect the unexpected,” but rarely do people actually stop to make sense of these. We always hear people say these phrases that are suppose to “help you” in life, but what do they really mean? It wasn't until this summer that I actually had a reason to stop and make meaning of these statements myself, which has had a big impact on my life today.

There I was in Kentucky this past summer, the air was light as the warm sun shined brightly in the clear sky. It was the second week in June and my dad’s side of the family was traveling to Harlan Kentucky, a trip we take every year to go see our family who lives there. So what made this year so special compared to the past years? This was the year my parents actually let me drive my own car down there. My best friend Rachel, my brother Zach, and I followed my dad’s HHR closely as we traveled down I-75 jamming out to old “throwback” songs on Rachel's phone. We pulled off the freeway to get gas from a BP gas station about 1 ½ hours from our hotel. After filling up my car my dad walked over to the drivers side of my car where I was sitting.

“Be safe Cate, were almost to the hotel, I love you.” My dad whispered before shutting my door and climbing into his car with his girlfriend Sarah and her three daughters.

I-75 was closed down to two lanes due to construction right after the exit, orange traffic barrels lined the right side of the highway while cars lined the left two lanes. Although this shouldn't have been a big deal I didn't really acknowledge the fact that I shouldn't have been speeding up as much as I was to merge off the ramp and onto I-75. The cars were still going 70 MPH, however all the cars were forced to drive in only two lanes instead of four lanes and I wasn't use to merging onto I-75 when there was construction being done like this, seeing I just got my license six months prior to this trip. I followed my dad’s car down the ramp and began to try to merge, I glanced to my left only to see a huge blue 18-wheeler right next to me. The reflection of my powder blue Honda Civic shined in the chrome finish on the side of the semi. I began to get butterflies in my stomach seeing how close the semi was to my car and then quickly returned my focus to my dad’s HHR which disappeared in front of the 18-wheeler. I began to try to merge in front of the semi like my dad did, but before I knew it the lane began to end. Orange barrels began to push the lane inward. Zach and Rachel stopped singing and my car grew silent. Time seemed to stand still as I was faced with a split second decision, semi truck on the left or orange barrels on the right. Silence broke as my passenger side mirror shattered against my window and sparkling glass hit the black asphalt. Panic began to set into my body, my knuckles turned white as I gripped the sweaty steering wheel. I began to think about how only months before I was sitting in drivers training. I was mortified as I watched videos of teens being killed in car accidents just after getting their license. That will never happen to me, I thought, I'm never going to drink or text while driving like they did so I will be fine, I tried to reassure myself as I stared at the horrible videos. But now, in the moment I couldn't help but think is this going to happen to me too? If this is how my life is going to end, will people try to say that I was texting and driving too or will they know that it wasn't my fault? One by one bright orange barrels flew over my car as I hit them going 70 MPH. Somehow I managed to weave my car in between two barrels and into the soon to be construction zone. Terrified I barely slowed down before slamming my Civic into park. Tears welled in my eyes as I saw my dad’s HHR reversing through the construction zone towards my car. I unbuckled my seatbelt, brought my knees up to my chest, and buried my face into my hands. Soon I felt the breeze of my car door opening and my dads hands pulled me out of the car. Standing on the side of I-75 he held me tightly as I shook with fear, my tears soaked up into his dark blue shirt.

“Are you okay Cate?” he said still holding me.

‘“Yeah, I think so.” I manage to say in between me gasping for air.

Everything flashed through my head over and over again, I began to think about what would have happened if I hit the semi instead of the barrels. I’m lucky I swerved right. My back door opens as Zach climbs out to assess the damage.

“Its not as bad as I thought it would be.” he tries to reassure me.

I slowly walk over to see for myself. Orange lined the passenger side of my car, my side mirror was completely shattered and only a small chunk remained. In my eyes it was the worst thing that could have possibly happened, I just got my car in March and I already ruined it, how could I have let that happen? My dad saw the look on my face and tried to comfort me.

“It’s a car Cate. Its not important, it's all minor, it can all be fixed. You guys are okay, that's what really matters.”

I knew that I should feel like what he was saying was right, But I still was upset about my car. I slowly walked back to the driver's side of my car and sat down.

“Are you sure you still want to drive Cate? Sarah can if you don't want to.” my dad asked.

“I’m okay, lead the way.” I answer and with that my dad said he loved me and shut my car door.

Since then I've had a lot of time to think about what happened. Although I would never wish anyone to go through what I went through, I realize that it was a great way to show myself that anything really could happen at any moment instead of it just being an old cliché everyone says. Now I realize how lucky I truly was. I would have never expected something like this to happen during that trip but because it did it has changed the way I am while driving and my thoughts on life. Now I'm more aware of my surroundings when I'm driving, before I was very arrogant and thought I didn't really have to try hard to be good at driving because I passed my road test and got my license, so that meant I must be good at driving. Now I know anything can happen to anyone no matter how long they've been driving for or whose fault it was.