I AM SO CONFUSED. A little about me and my future so this doesn't get complicated. I'm turning 18 in 7 months, live in a pretty rural area, and have some very strict parents. I hope to go to an Ivy League school for college (Dartmouth), and pursue medicine. I don't get in trouble, and don't do anything stupid like drugs. Hell, I don't even date. And I've never been upset about this in a teenager-esque fashion.
I was offered a once-in-a-lifetime opprotunity to intern at a local hospital in the oncology department. I'd be following doctors, talking with patients, and doing all of the nurse's jobs. It's exposure that can't be beat.
But, I need a car. I've tried to work around that by thinking that I could bike, or take a taxi, or something but it's not realistic: it's too far. My parents postponed getting my liscense until a couple of months ago for fear of my inevitable death. Even still, I am not allowed to drive because they will not add me onto insurance.
I have an account of savings bonds of about $14,000. I must keep 10k in, or else withdrawl it all. I would use the 4k for a dirt cheap car, insurance, and some gas money.
My dad says this is the dumbest thing I could do: I will need that money later, I'm not positive I am going into medicine and should forget my dreams of Ivy League and "chill" my senior year. He says I should get a job. "Don't worry about a car in college - you won't need one!" He said he would add me onto our insurance policy on the two vehicles we have (a truck, which drives horribly in winter, and a Jeep, which I'm too short to drive), and I could drive it in the summer a couple times. Nothing more.
I refuted everypoint, saying this is too big of a deal to pass up, and if he ever wants me to come home in college, you bet I'll need a vehicle. I'm not copping out my senior year - in fact, without the internship, I'll take harder classes. A job would be great, but I need a car to get there. There's more but this is already getting long.
I said I was tapping into the account: I cannot give up this internship. But then we found out about insurance.
It's 600/year for me to be covered on one of our vehicles, and 1200 if we bought a new one.
Note: everybody in my family is unemployed.
My dad said he's not even paying 600 for the truck. "Simple. You just AREN'T DRIVING!" Then it got worse. As soon as I turn 18, if I'm not covered under my parents' policy, then I will be paying 2700 a year! (Probably, because if you haven't been driving under your parents, you have NO EXPERIENCE).
So.
What do I do?
Do I quit the internship? Do I buy a car? Do I have a fundraiser or sell a lot of stuff on eBay? Do I opt for insurance on the truck and take a taxi everywhere else?