Getting your first car is not only exciting, but also important. As a high school student, it is difficult to find rides from place to place, and always a struggle when you are left to wait long hours for the bus or for a parent to pick you up. With a car, teenagers face new opportunities  and experience more freedom. Some new drivers on the road have special relationships with their cars, even giving them names, or putting fun stickers on them. Others just think of their car as a normal mode of transportation.

Junior Tess Chiappone is one student who does not have a strong bond with her 2013 Prius. Although she puts custom surfing and waves stickers on her car and takes good care of it, she does not feel she has a special connection with her Prius. “I have yet to give my Prius a name. I love my car a lot and without it my life truly would be a lot less eventful, but I don’t feel the need to give it a name.”

On the other hand, junior Jake McBrier cares about his car much more than the average high schooler. He bought his 2015 Volkswagen Jetta for the start of the new school year and pays $400 a month for it. “A car is a huge part of your life and I’m in it all the time, so I want to make it the best it can be, with customizing it, said McBrier. I tinted my windows and tinted the interior lights so it looks way more fly.” Jake’s car clearly means a lot to him, which says a lot about him as a person. To some people, a car is more than just that. When people get in his car, he makes sure they do not leave a mess and that they treat the Jetta with respect.

Senior Coralie Wilcox has recently purchased a white Jeep Wrangler that she proudly drives around town. However, this Jeep did not come as easily as she hoped it would. She bought it off of Craigslist and got scammed online when it arrived unsafe and nearly immobile. She did not in any way get the deal she expected and even thought for a while her Jeep was just a far-fetched dream.

“When my Jeep  arrived my Dad and I knew right away that it was not running smoothly, so we immediately took it to the shop, only to find out that if I had drove it any longer, it would have ticked,” said Wilcox. It was not smooth sailing for Wilcox and her beloved Jeep, which she now she feels is a part of who she is. She continues to be thankful that she was able to put the money into it to fix it up.