Becoming an Illinoian

I am officially the holder of an Illinois driver’s license. And I feel like I've given away a little part of my identity by abandoning my Nebraska license and becoming an Illinois driver.

I already miss Nebraska...I mean, do I say I'm from Illinois now? Illinois?? I have thoroughly enjoyed my four years here, but seriously...Illinois?? No offense to you from the fine state of Abraham Lincoln, but I kind of liked saying I was from Nebraska and am quite proud of my home state.

But alas, I am now an Illinois driver, organ donor and voter. And will probably have to get Illinois license plates on my car soon! I think that will be the final straw.

My home state was always a good conversation starter: “Where’re you from?” “Nebraska.” “Nebraska?? How’d you make it all the way over here? What brought you to Bourbonnais/Olivet/Peotone?” and the conversation goes on ...

Well, it took me about two months to drag myself into the DMV to attempt to get a new license. After two failed attempts (the DMV is closed on Mondays and to get a license you have to bring just about every official document on your life that you own, which I didn’t have at the time), I finally made it in last Thursday. I set aside two hours for this task, having before experienced the long waits that often occur at DMVs. I rushed out of work 15 minutes late, worried I wouldn’t have enough time before my 5:45 tumbling class for 3-year-olds at the YMCA. However, I was surprised to discover I made it out of the DMV in less than an hour, with a new driver’s license in hand.

Official documents needed for a new license:
- passport
- birth certificate
- old driver’s license
- marriage license
- social security card (I brought my old and new)
- checkbook or piece of mail (to prove your Illinois address)

While the whole DMV experience was surprising painless, what WAS painful was the few nights and hours before as I studied to take the written driver’s test. The last time I took this test was when I was 14, going on 15, to get my permit ... and I failed the test. I even studied! A lot! So ... going into this test, my stomach was in knots. I even spent Tuesday night going through the driver’s manual, reading the sections and doing the review questions! I am happy to say I passed the test with flying colors! A 97 percent! I never got 100s on tests anyway, so all is well.

Lessons learned:
1) The Illinois DMV isn’t as awful as I first thought it was.
2) Even after five days of seeing an Illinois license in my wallet, I still miss my Nebraska one.
3) I will always be a Nebraskan at heart!