Is it socially unacceptable not to be able to drive at the age of 25? I hope not...

IN MY first week as a journalist, I asked one of my editors for the most valuable piece of advice he would give to budding reporters.

- Emma Loffhagen

"Make sure you have a driving licence," came the immediate response. "If you're sent on an assignment to the back end of beyond, you don't want to be relying on trains."

At the time, I thought nothing of it. I had just turned 21, after all. I would get settled into my job and then focus on getting my licence. No big deal. Lots of people my age can't drive.

I am now approaching four years in the job and I still have not made the switch from L to P plates. I am also turning 25 in a couple of weeks, an age at which it feels deeply socially unacceptable still to have a provisional licence. Each time I go to a club I feel the silent judgement when the bouncer realises that my birth year starts with a 19, and somehow my ID is still green.