An Enumclaw woman just accepted a new job and it's an opportunity that will take her more than 7,000 miles away.
Sheryl Vanderwalker was a deputy with the King County Sheriff's Department for 25 years before she opened Rules of the Road Driving School a decade ago. A few months back she was at her office in Enumclaw when her friend called her with a job offer.
“So I called her and she said ‘What do you think about going to Saudi Arabia and teaching women how to drive?’ And I said ‘I’m in. I’m in’,” Vanderwalker recalled.
In late June, Saudi Arabia lifted the world’s only ban on women drivers. Now the country is hiring help to get women behind the wheel.
“It means that they get to move into the 21st Century. And be able to have a job and be able to pick up their children and drive themselves to the grocery store,” Vanderwalker said. “It’s history changing. It is helping these women move forward to learn a skill they thought they would never learn.”
Vanderwalker will still keep her driving school operating in Enumclaw as she will only be away for a few months, but she knew this is an opportunity she wanted to pursue.
She’ll leave for Saudi Arabia in early October.
“These women didn’t even dream of being able to drive last year,” Vanderwalker said. “It’s an amazing feeling. And to just talk to them and see how excited they are, it’s very rewarding.”
After nearly three decades in law enforcement and 10 years as a driving instructor in the states, Vanderwalker knew she always wanted something more. Now she says she found her purpose more than 7,000 miles away.
“It makes you realize that the world, it’s not all about you. There’s things a lot of us still need to do,” Vanderwalker said. “And it’s bigger than yourself.”
