When senior Alan Martin gets on the campus shuttle bus, he does not cram in the back with all the other students. He sits behind the steering wheel. Martin is one of this year's 18 student drivers — the most student employees the bus service has ever had since it started accepting them in 2004.
Martin, who has always loved the freedom of the open road, knew he wanted to be a driver since the summer before his junior year. The work comes naturally to him. In fact, he said he had trouble distinguishing between being a student passenger and a student driver.
"I don't see much of a difference between riding and driving, it all feels the same to me," he said.
In terms of differences in workload, driving is a refreshing escape for Martin, who has to spend large amounts of time behind a computer screen as a computer technology major.
"Driving and computer technology are different in almost every way. However, they both require a lot of patience," he said.
When it comes to driving, that is one virtue Martin is happy to muster. He is committed to the long hours and works 20 hours per week.
No one is happier to see students like Martin willing to supplement their academic endeavors with a campus job than bus operations manager, Gary Moses.
"We only had one student driver in 2004, so it's nice to see this increase in students serving students," Moses said.
To Moses, the value of student drivers lies in their ability to empathize with the passengers, who are often their peers.
"Student drivers know what it's like to wait in the rain for a bus, to worry about getting to class on time, to cram in the back of the bus," he said.
Moses' belief in student involvement stems from the fact that he became a driver upon graduating from Ball State in 2007. He became the bus service supervisor that same year and drove for a city transit company three years beforehand while in school.
"As a former student who rode the bus here, I wanted to return the favor. It felt good to give back," he said.
Driving, he said, also deepens students' understanding of shuttle bus employees and the service they provide.
"Most students think that the job just consists of driving around in a circle all day, but there is a lot more to it than that," Martin said. "You have to deal with traffic, pay close attention to the drivers that have no regard for you and also make sure your passengers are satisfied."
For Martin, the rewards greatly outweigh the efforts.
"It's a very fun job. You don't have to work too hard and you get to see a lot of things you might not have seen before," he said.
Moses would like to fit as many student drivers into the work schedule as he possibly can and is always looking for more student drivers.
"Gary [Moses] believes that if a job can be done by someone in college, it should be," Martin said. "And he's right. It's good to learn how to balance schoolwork and a job in the professional world."
Martin is now in his second year of working for the shuttle bus service and has grown into an ideal student driver — the kind the shuttle service is looking for. From the beginning, his passion for driving has mirrored Moses'.
"I've always enjoyed being on the road and traffic never stresses me out, which is essential for this job," Martin said.
Martin also trains new student employees and he always tells them that passion like his is the key to being a successful student driver.
"New student drivers have to understand that this is not just another job. They have to want to do it," Martin said.
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