I lay comfortably in my bed sleep, and then my alarm blares off. I sluggishly roll over and silence the alarm and check the time. Yup, its 5:30am, as I peel back the covers and lift myself out of bed. No one else is awake. I proceed to throw on my clothes, as I groan as I look out the window at the dark morning ahead of me. I think about how my dad can wake up at 3:30 and do this. I pack my lunch two water bottles and my phone charger while I put on my jacket and continuously check the time on my phone. I finish double-checking my morning gear, and put my ear buds in as I depart from the house. One last look at my phone, it is 5:55am. Good I’m running a little bit early today, as I take my time on the way to the bus stop about 1 block and a half away.
The bus stop is empty today, like it is most days. I look down the street for signs of the city bus. A minute or two later the bus turns the corner and I pull out my 75 cents for bus fare and my school ID for the discount. The bus stops and opens it door as I step in and put my money into the slot and greet the driver good morning, as I ask for a transfer to the southwest bus that would take me to Rider. I take the hole-punched slip of paper and take my seat. The bus from there arrives to Sikes Senter at 6:15 where I get off and wait for the southwest bus to arrive.
As it pulls up, I step in and hand the driver my transfer paper and take my seat right in front of the second set of doors and lay my head on the window. I exhale contently, as I can now get a bit of rest before the bus arrives in front of rider in about thirty minutes. The bus soon departs at 6:30. I doze on and off during the bus ride always checking where the bus is so I don’t miss the stop. The bus passes near rider once before I get off, at Johnson and Raider, but I choose not to get off at this stop. I would rather wait the ten minutes for the bus to arrive across the street of the school. I pull the cord to signal to get off about a block from the school. I get my things together as it pulls to a stop. I step off the bus and walk across cypress into the school.
I walk in and take my place at my morning table and place my head on the table and say, “it’s just another day.” The removal of the busing in the choice program isn’t the end of the world for kids who ride the school buses in the morning. There are other options, students may not like them but they have to use them if they want to continue to go to the school of their choice.