Mr.Soucie has truly been one of the worst teachers and gave me and my peers, who have had him an awful and stressful learning experience.
This class has been the worst learning experience of my life. Mr. Soucie has shown a pattern of disrespect and insensitivity to many students, and everyone I've talked to has confirmed his abrasive personality. At many of my lessons, I have had panic attacks in the car because of the stressful environment he creates. I have also cried before and after lessons because of the harsh criticism he gave. He even said once that I needed to redeem myself before my next drive. This stressed me out because there was nothing I could do between then and my next drive to improve, since I couldn't drive on my own. This is also a flaw in his grading system, because we do all our learning with him. He also only focuses on the negative parts of your driving, never complimenting or recognizing anything that you do correctly. While I do understand that criticism is a great way to learn, it can be extremely discouraging if that is all that you hear. Another overwhelming part of Mr. Soucie's teaching style is the running commentary he makes you say. He makes you say every sign that you see, that you're checking your mirrors every five to eight seconds, where and what you're looking at, what snipers and chargers are there (other cars), and more. This is extremely distracting when you're trying to focus on a new and scary thing. He made me feel bad for not saying everything, while I was already so overwhelmed. His other teaching methods, such as snapping at the turning and recovery points of a turn is also very distracting and intimidating to his students. Mr. Soucie also never taught me how to park. I feel that I was not given the necessary tools and information I need to drive safely. I would never recommend A-1 Driving school to anyone who asks my opinion on where they should go to drivers ed. read more
