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I had been driving for years with no accidents and loved it. When I was made redundant from work I was at a loss. No jobs available at the job centre and I was sat around the house all day feeling sorry for myself.

I was watching morning television when an advert came on for driving instructor courses, anybody could do it as long as you had a full driving licence with no more than nine points. Great! I could do that. I started to look into driving instructor courses on the internet to find the best deal. I did have my redundancy money but didn't want to use it all up.

Firstly, I completed a pass plus course to prove I was a competent driver then registered for driving instructor courses. I needed to buy a new motor and have it altered to have dual peddles. Then I prices round insurance groups to find a good price. That done, I could start my course.

I never realised how much would be involved. Yes, I could drive but it is something totally different to try to teach somebody else. Firstly, I had to go out with an instructor whilst I was driving, then as the driving instructor courses advanced, I would have a 'pupil' in my car. This would be a driving instructor pretending to be a pupil and oh boy, did they pretend. You need to have the patience of a saint to do this job and I really started to doubt that I could do it but my instructor gave me the confidence to carry on, not to mention the thought of money that could be earned.

I passed my course and set up my own business. Taking the first few bookings was really exciting, actually going out on a lesson was a different story.

I felt sick, had sweaty palms and quivering legs, I am sure I was more nervous than my pupil but I couldn't let them know I was nervous. My patience was really tested but I kept going, used to chew mints by the packet to keep my nerve. Sometimes the temptation to hit the break when yo could see a hazard coming was really too much.

But getting that first pupil to pass their test really was the icing on the cake. It was alot of hard work but seeing the smile on the pupils face made it all worth it.