Julie Osborne's day starts while much of Nashville is still asleep. Around 3:45 a.m., she’ll wake up and take a shower. By 4, she’s heading outside to start preparing her school bus for the workday. By 5:55, she’s picked up her first student.
The days are long, Osborne said. But she wouldn’t change a thing. 
Osborne drives Exceptional Education students to school every day on a wheelchair-accessible bus. She has worked for Metro Schools as a bus driver for 28 years.
“There are days that I’m tired,” she said. “But these kids can uplift you so fast.”
Bus driving was far from easy at first, but Osborne quickly fell in love with it, especially as she started to build relationships with the students on her bus route.
She talks to every single student who comes on the bus. It doesn’t matter if they can’t or don’t want to say anything back to her. For Osborne, it’s about starting their day off the best she can.
“I’m one of the first people they see and one of the last,” she said, tears swelling up in her eyes. “That really is important.”
Osborne has hundreds of stories from over the years of her career, but they all have one thing in common: Her goal is to make the students feel seen and heard. For some students, that means she’ll talk to them for the entire bus ride; for some, it’s as simple as smiling at them when they get on.
“It’s not great all the time. They’re children,” she said. “Even on their bad days, they still need love.”
A Privilege More than a Job
Emotional connection aside, there are tangible physical accomplishments that make Osborne stand out. Etched into a plaque she displays proudly near the front seat are an itemized list of benchmarks: Master Driver, First Aid Certified, Safe Driver and Accident Free. By the end of the year, she’ll also be adding perfect attendance.
After Osborne drops off her last student in the morning, she heads to the MNPS Bus Depot, where she works in the shop from 9:30 until lunchtime. The work she does in the shop varies from day to day.
This year she focuses on bringing cars and buses that need to be worked on back to the headquarters. In the past, she’s maintained the buses, doing oil changes, washing the vehicles, and checking tire pressure.
By 1 p.m., it’s time to start the afternoon pickup. Osborne and her bus monitor head back to the bus. They will pick up and drop off their students, and Osborne will return home around 6, depending on traffic.
Osborne misses the students over weekends and breaks. Oftentimes, she will find herself wondering how they are doing, if they are OK or what they will tell her about when school starts up again.
“I have one student, he’s been on my bus for I don’t know how many years at this point. He was so excited to see me after Thanksgiving break, and I was so excited to see him. This week off stuff is for the birds,” she said, laughing.
For Osborne, driving a bus doesn’t feel like a job – it feels more like a privilege. She’s excited to see her students and have the responsibility of getting them to and from school.
“If you aren’t passionate about it, you need to find a different job,” Osborne said. “It’s not a job if you love it, and sweet Jesus, I love it.”
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