Life
College student defends driving a little Barbie jeep after DWI
What do you think about it?
D.G. Sciortino
08.15.20

Some people never get over the mistakes they make. Even after they learn a lesson from it.

They carry guilt, shame, and all sorts of negativity with them and let it bring them down.

But Tara Monroe ain’t that chick. Monroe was hit with a DWI charge after refusing to take a breathalyzer test after a Waka Flocka concert.

That meant that her license was automatically suspended.

Though she took the charge seriously, Monroe wasn’t going to let it stop her from moving forward.

Accepting her new reality without a license, Monroe still had to get around the campus at Texas State University where she was on the Dean’s List as an industrial engineering student.

Taking the bus or riding a bike just isn’t Monroe’s style.

“I’m kind of a diva I’ll admit. I don’t like to sweat. I don’t like to work out,” she told Inside Edition.

But giving up isn’t Monroe’s style either. Doing things her way is.

“She’s got to get somewhere, she’s going to figure out how she’s going to get there. She’s stubborn,” her sister, Taylor, told USA Today.

Her dad did originally get her a bike to ride around campus, but she wasn’t about to put in all that leg work.

“Riding a bike around campus sucks,” she told MySA.com. “Like really sucks.

So, she found herself the perfect mode of transportation.

She went on Craigslist and got herself a one-battery powered child’s Barbie Jeep Wrangler.

“When we drove up to buy it Charlene asked where the little one was to test drive it to which I replied, ‘I am the little one,’” a 5′ 3″ Monroe said.

Monroe actually ended up naming the car after the lady who sold it to her.

Since then Monroe could be seen riding Charlene, her 12-volt battery toy car, all around campus to get to class.

“It goes pretty fast when it’s just me, so I usually make them (her friends) walk behind me like parents taking their kid out to play,” she said. “I’m just happy everyone thinks this is so hilarious.”

People got a kick out of it and would often Snapchat photos of Monroe or hope that they would finally spot the Barbie Jeep.

“Most people don’t find the things me and my friends do very funny, just immature, so I didn’t expect to get this big of a reaction,” she said. “People who don’t know me are shocked but my friends weren’t even surprised because I do stuff like this all the time.”

😂

Posted by Emily Neirynck onSunday, July 19, 2020

Monroe and Charlene ended up going viral with news outlets all over trying to talk to her for a story.

“This is the best way I could have gotten my 15 minutes of fame,” she told MySA in 2015. “Basically, it was the best decision I’ve made in college, yet…”

Monroe has actually been riding around in battery cars for a while

She and her sister would ride theirs around in eighth and ninth grade to the local Starbucks.

Now Monroe is getting her college friends in on the fun.

“My roommate actually just bought one too. It’s actually just a fun thing to do with your friends,” Monroe said.

Here’s to making the best out of a bad situation and people like Monroe who have the nerve to do so. Learn more about Monroe’s story below.

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Article Sources:
Inside Edition
MySA
Time
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By D.G. Sciortino
[email protected]
Dina is a contributing writer in Shareably. She's based in Connecticut and can be reached at [email protected].
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