INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Many professional race car drivers started at ages as young as 5 behind the wheel of a go-kart. Karting helps teach you the craft of racing, from control to adapting to the race track for speed. The earlier you start racing, the better your chances will be for cultivating a career later. Learn as much as you can while racing go-karts.  Enter karting competitions. Different local, national, and international cup competitions are held through the year. Try looking into CIKFIA or The World Karting Association  If you're not yet of the legal driving age, try to find a track that offers youth racing. This is great way to learn the basics of handling a vehicle around curves while negotiating the pack. Race in the soap box derby. The more racing experience you have as a youth, the better equipped you will be for a career in racing. After you have learned all you can from karting, and hopefully gotten a few wins under your belt, start racing cars. Try entering amateur racing competitions. You can also start building a career racing off-road vehicles and motorcycles, like 7x Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner Jimmie Johnson. Before you can make it to any kind of professional circuit, you need to hone your skills. Race in as many local races as you can. As you win races, you start to build a reputation as you improve your driving skills, enhance your talent, and build a career. Work your way up through local and regional races, collecting as many wins as possible. Watch races on TV. Even better, visit a local track. If you have the opportunity to purchase a pit pass, do it, and ask questions of the pit crew members, drivers, managers, and officials. Find race car mechanics near you or on the Internet, so you can learn everything you can about the mechanics of a race car and how it differs from a passenger car.  Read textbooks about auto mechanics, or take a course at a local community college. If you are serious about becoming a race car driver, you need to know everything you can about cars, from the basics of a lug wrench to suspensions.  The most important tool for any race car driver is a reliable car, and although professional drivers have a maintenance staff of mechanics to keep things running smoothly, the driver is the only one on the track who can spot a problem early and pit the car before getting into trouble at high speeds. As a volunteer, you’ll generally need some sort of basic skills, such as knowledge of mechanics, though some programs provide training for volunteers. Sometimes, struggling drivers will just be happy for someone to help out, which can lead to you learning skills on site. Many amateur and semi-pro teams need volunteers to do all sorts of jobs. This is a good way to meet people and get hands on experience. Most major speedways offer driving experiences that range from ride-along laps to following a pace car, or the ultimate driver's-seat challenge with an experienced passenger to guide you with hand signals as you tour the track. “Fantasy” driving schools offer detailed safety and track communications instruction, lessons in standard track procedures, and the opportunity to drive a race car from 3 to 40 laps around the track.

SUMMARY: Race go-karts. Graduate to racing actual vehicles. Compete in local races. Watch professional drivers at work. Study the mechanics of a race car. Volunteer to help with a local driver's crew. Take part in a NASCAR driving course.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Think back to when you first met your crush. Try to recall if you still feel the same or if your feelings have grown since then. What's commonly called “love at first sight” is often a sudden physical attraction, or infatuation. Love, on the other hand, increases over time from mere attraction to something deeper. Think about what you like and don't like about your crush. Seeing your reasons on paper might help you to better assess your feelings. Noting their drawbacks will toss a little cold water on your passions and let you think a little clearer about what it is that you do like. Make each side as long as you can. Don't worry about how major or trivial each pro or con is. Write down everything that comes to mind. You could include:  Pros: good-looking, kind, someone I can talk to Cons: disorganized, immature at times, can be needy Analyze your pros and cons in terms of whether you're looking at reality or an idealized image of your crush. Circle or highlight which pros intensify your feelings and which cons don't affect how you feel. Evaluate whether those reasons are trivial or significant. If you can't accept the whole person—flaws and all—you're not in love.  For example, you might be in love if you overlook their messiness because you're too busy appreciating their generosity or engaging conversations. On the other hand, you might not be in love if the sight of them makes feel warm and fuzzy, but you can't imagine a future with them. Pay attention to whether you share their happiness or sadness when they tell you good or bad news. For example, if you start to tear up when your crush tearfully tells you their grandmother died, you're feeling their pain. This is a good sign that you're in love. Ask yourself whether you mean it when you say, “I miss you.” Most lasting romantic love has an underlying bond that remains relatively steady over time. This doesn't mean you fret over missing them every second; in fact, that would be an unhealthy kind of attachment. But, missing your partner and wanting to bond with them is a key element of love. Imagine your life in five or ten years. Consider the impact of career changes, children, and relocations. Consider whether you're willing to face minor and life-threatening illnesses with this person. Think about taking care of them—or them taking care of you—as you grow old. If you can imagine a long-term future with this person, it's probably love. This doesn't mean you've done a complete 180 on your personality. Rather, reflect on whether you've expanded your horizons as a result of your crush. For example, maybe you never considered spending your weekend planting trees before your crush asked you to join them on a reforesting project. Now that you've done it, you feel this newfound connection with nature, and you owe it all to them. If you feel like this person has changed you for the better, it could be love. Take a mental note of how you feel the next time you and your crush do unexciting, everyday things together. For example, you normally hate grocery shopping but suddenly look forward to it because they're going to be with you. This is a sign that you could be in love. On the other hand, if you're still bored to tears and can't wait to do something fun, it's probably just infatuation. ” Notice how you feel when your crush talks to your potential rivals. Make a note of how you feel when those potential rivals flirt with your crush. You should also consider whether you suspect your crush might lose interest in you as a result of the flirtation. Periodic jealousy is actually a healthy reaction that can make you want to hang on to someone a bit tighter. In fact, you could be in love if you feel it. On the other hand, if you're suspicious and feel the urge to spy on your crush, it's not love. At least it's not healthy love. It's likely gone beyond infatuation into 'obsession'.

SUMMARY:
Retrace how your emotions developed. Make a list of pros and cons. Evaluate your list. Check for empathy. Evaluate how you feel when they're not around. Analyze your future plans. Consider whether this person has changed you. Notice how mundane things affect you. Think about the “green-eyed monster.