DCTA bus driver juggles working full-time while attending college
(DENTON, Texas – Sept. 11, 2025) The bus vibrates under Kira Vollien as the Texas sun beats down from above. There are still a few more hours left in the day. Vollien, who uses they/them pronouns, checks their watch again. Their day has been a revolving door of students to pick up and drop off. Vollien can only focus on one thing, that assignment. The one due just before midnight. However, there is one issue – they’re still at work and can’t get off until all the student arrived at their destination.
This is the constant challenge for Vollien, who is a full-time student at North Texas Central College, and is also a full-time bus driver for Denton County Transportation Authority. It is a never-ending battle to meet deadlines at both work and school. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics roughly 40% of college students are employed full-time. Vollien is one of them.
The long hours behind the bus’s wheel has had an impact of Vollien’s academic performance.
“Unfortunately, it has impacted me negatively, if anything changes even slightly, I might work even longer.” says Vollien.
According to a study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, students who work over 20 hours per week reported a negative effect on their grades. The study also found that students who work over 20 hours a week were 2.5 times more likely to drop out.
Vollien doesn’t want to drop out; however, something as simple as rain can make their day longer.
During a particularly rainy day where their bus began to leak, it wasn’t safe to keep students on board, so another bus had to be brought in to get students home. And that took time. A lot of time.
Vollien confessed that it isn’t all bad. Their schedule has many upsides. For example, they get about two hours for their lunch break. They use those free moments to complete assignments before going back to work. When juggling two full-time obligations, students have to learn how to make it work.
“One big thing I learned while working and going to school full-time is definitely time management,” Vollien says as the past reflected in their eyes. “It’s important to have a good schedule when you’re doing two intense things. It’s about making sure you’re hitting those deadlines.”
Vollien believes that the things they learned from work relate to school, for instance, time management. For Vollien, that didn’t just mean going to work, or getting schoolwork done. It also meant knowing when to take breaks for life. During Vollien’s free time, they often played video games or spent time with friends.
Vollien’s biggest supporters are their coworkers and friends. Once a week, they meet with their friends, and they spend a few hours at their favorite coffee shop studying. This helps them stay motivated and keeps them focused.
Vollien pushed themself to work and go to school in order to earn their degree in video game design. Once they earn their degree they’ll be able to work better jobs and achieve their goal to work in the video game industry.
“It’s important to maintain balance in your personal life and education.” Vollien said.
Vollien as nontraditional student had to learn to create a strong support system and build time management skills to ensure long-term success. In order to thrive as a full-time student and employee Vollien takes time for themselves; Their passion for video games making the hard work worth it.
“I don’t even care if I’m at the bottom tier when I start,” says Vollien. “My dream is to work for Nintendo.”
The workload is just a starting point for Vollien. They intend to push through in the hopes of making their wish come true.
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