This student was a ward of the state from the age of 10. He had run away from foster homes in his teen years and eventually lived "on the street". Thus, developed into a life of crime. At the age of 22, he was imprisoned, subsequently spending the next 11 years of his life in jail.
Now, this student explained to me that living "on the street" meant that he needed to learn to live off the street. This meant that he never got to learn about basic societal processes (such as learning how to open a bank account or how to obtain his IRD number -- two vital components for getting employment). He had happened to get his Learners Licence before going to jail. But that was basically it. He essentially went to jail "not-matured" and came out of jail 11 years, still not knowing how life worked. In the 3 months since his release, this student has struggled greatly and got to the point where he thought it just might be easier "going back inside", since that was how he knew to survive.
Going through the process of doing his Restricted licence test and the result of obtaining his Restricted licence, showed this student that he can adapt to society and could be a part of it!
This was the biggest achievement for this student in his life!
He said it was the most positive thing he has done and has changed how he looks at his life now.
