What did you dream of doing when you were a kid? Astronaut? President of the United States? Shortstop for the Yankees? With a rare few exceptions, most of you reading this article have not made it in those careers. The flip side, however, is that if you are reading this article then you probably are pretty successful in your own right and own a Porsche.

Now, let's dial it back to when you were a kid and add a different dream job to the list — race car driver. You may not be able to get on the ballot for a four-year stretch in the Oval Office, and last I checked there aren't any Mars missions. But for a modest investment of time and money, you can absolutely learn to drive your car like it was meant to be driven.

HPDE — which stands for High Performance Driving Event or High Performance Driver Education — is a type of event that is held all over the country that allows you to get your car onto a race track with an instructor and learn how to control it at high speeds. Oftentimes this means the speedometer needle will be solidly in the triple digits. Your local PCA Region will typically sponsor one or two track days each year, and as a club member, you can find an event somewhere almost any weekend.

The fees to participate vary, but my experience is that they average about $300 per day to include classroom instruction, track time, an instructor and all kinds of extracurricular activities like tech demonstrations, swap meet entries, lunches and music.

As far as your car goes, more serious guys and gals may spend a little more to prepare their cars for track days, but if your car doesn't leak and has good tires, it's probably good to get on the track right now. Some events even offer helmet rentals, which will save you a few hundred dollars if you want to be sure that driving fast is for you before committing to purchase a helmet.

The way it works is pretty simple and fairly standard. First you find an event. I suggest starting with your PCA Region by searching the event calendar on its website and talking with the track chair or registrar about events that the club is sponsoring. If your Region doesn't host an HPDE, visit PCA.org and go to the Events section. Many of them are listed there, and you should be able to find one or two that are within driving distance. If you can't find an event on PCA.org, visit Region websites in case their events haven't been posted in the Events section.

Next is to figure out the rules, regulations and registration process for the event. Most of HDPEs I have attended use an online venue called clubregistration.net. This site and others like it will offer you an easy and convenient way to sign up, register yourself and your car, and then reserve your attendance at an event.

All of the billing is electronic, and you can download any forms you will need for your event. The site will detail run groups by experience level and highlight the different options that are open to you for driving, riding, instruction and more.

After finding the event and registering, you will need to address the technical inspection. Each event has its own rules and requirements, but if this will be your first "DE," then a couple of things are likely to hold true.

First, be sure your Porsche is in top mechanical condition before you get to the event, because if it isn't, there's a strong chance you won't be able to drive it on track. The technical inspection usually can be passed by performing common, preventive maintenance on your Porsche that you would likely practice when using it day-to-day, let alone when you were taking it onto the track.

Performing a pre-HPDE inspection goes a long way to ensure you won't encounter any surprises. Of course, tires must be in serviceable condition with lug nuts torqued to specification, and you will need to have a fresh bleed of the brakes with clean fluid. The car cannot have any leaks.

You will be in a beginner group, and you won't need a specially prepared car. Most DE events simply require equivalent protection for student and instructor as it relates to seat belts. For example, if you have factory belts and they work, you'll be good. If you want to add a four-, five- or six-point harness to your car, then you'll need the same for the instructor.

After you pass tech, you are finally ready for the fun. Track days are long. They start early and end late. Everything moves fast — including the clock — so you'll want to be ready.

Eat breakfast and bring some snacks and lots of water. Most events provide some food or a concession, or there may be a group lunch or dinner, but make sure you don't get dehydrated or let your blood sugar get too low. A couple of fresh T-shirts are nice to have, and I would suggest anything you'd bring to a football game, concert or a day of camping — minus the adult beverages.

At the track, you'll check in and get your car through the trackside tech inspection. Then, you will be assigned an instructor. He will discuss your schedule for the day, give you some basic instruction and lay out how the day will unfold.

There will be a drivers meeting where the track officials will introduce the corner workers and flaggers. They will explain the flag system, emergency services and provide any safety briefing you'll need. After the intro, there will likely be some classroom sessions for different level drivers and hopefully, you'll have group debriefings after some or all of your runs with the other students in your group.

Each HPDE schedule varies, but it is typical to expect to run three or four times in a day, and for about 20-30 minutes per run. That may not seem like much, but it will physically whip you if you are not ready for it.

I have been to dozens of events with various organizations and clubs and run in all run group levels — with instructors, other drivers with track experience across the spectrum and solo. At the beginning of every track day, my heart is pounding and my adrenaline is through the roof. I get excited and nervous all at once, and everything races (no pun intended). After a couple of hot laps, I settle in and get into a rhythm with my car and can really focus on sharpening my skills.

When you finally get onto the track, the world gets really small, really fast. You're pushing the accelerator to the floor and diving into a corner so quickly that you have to strain to hold back a natural urge to relieve your bladder. Anything that might have been on your mind tends to lose precedence.

Learning the track, how to apex, tricks to accelerator and brake management and how to go fast, in general, will take every last ounce of your mental energy and all of your attention. Being aware of drivers in your surrounding, trying to earn your first "point-by" pass, and even skillfully holding your racing line while you surrender a point-by to a faster car or driver will fill you with excitement.

Throughout the course of the day, you will hear people say DE is not a race, it's not a competition, and it’s true — you're not racing against other drivers or the clock. However, I would argue that if you put a dozen or so folks into their sports cars on a race track, in a noncompetitive environment, and then teach them how to safely drive near or at the limit, there will still be those who pay attention to lap times. And there's nothing wrong with that, as lower lap times usually indicate driver improvement.

I cannot stress enough how powerful an impression track driving can make on you. You will certainly have a new level of appreciation for the engineering of your sports car and for the skill and conditioning of the men and women who do this professionally.

After you have had a taste of driving on a track, you may really want to dig deeper into the hobby and see where it takes you. You will, without a doubt, have a better idea of what it really takes to be a race car driver.