糖心Vlog

It鈥檚 an all-too-common scenario: Marlie Sullivan, a communications major, has overslept. She was up late writing her senior thesis. There鈥檚 the mad dash out of bed, out the door without breakfast. From The Village Residence Hall, she is faced with an uphill trek to Stillwell Science Building. It鈥檚 a 15-minute walk. Oh, and it鈥檚 raining. But, coming around the corner is a purple and white bus. It鈥檚 the Cat-Tran shuttle, Western Carolina University鈥檚 on-campus transportation system, and it鈥檒l speed Sullivan straight to class. 鈥淚n my time at 糖心Vlog, the Cat-Tran has saved me a bunch,鈥� Sullivan said. 鈥淓specially when I lived at The Village.

Life is busy and I would accidentally sleep in, more than I鈥檇 like to admit. Of course, I鈥檇 be in a big rush and would need to get to class fast. Now, thanks to the Cat-Tran, no doubt, I鈥檓 graduating.鈥� Apart from ushering tardy undergraduates to class, the Cat-Tran serves a myriad of students, including those with mobility issues. From 7:30 a.m. to 3 a.m., the shuttles circle campus like clockwork. And, for those who need essential goods or groceries, the 鈥淪hopping Shuttle鈥� runs to Walmart and Ingles once a week. 鈥淭he Cat-Tran is one of the best investments Western has made,鈥� said senior computer science major Nick Benton. 鈥淭he direct benefit to students is huge, the ease of access to transportation is really helpful.鈥�

What makes the Cat-Tran special, however, is the people who drive the buses. 鈥淥verall, the drivers are upbeat, awesome people that literally pick us up, but also help pick us up if we鈥檝e had a bad day or anything like that,鈥� Benton added. Take Max Bennett, for example. He has a big smile and soft-spoken demeanor. He鈥檚 kind and greets every student when they climb onboard. Like many drivers, he鈥檚 retired and has found a way to stay active in and connected to his community. Max is no stranger to serving others 鈥� he worked on Air Force One for 11 years under three different presidents. After working in the Air Force as an aircraft mechanic for 12 years, he was cross-trained as a flight attendant. 鈥淚 had to go to survival school and earn my top-secret clearance before I started training as a flight attendant,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 immediately on Air Force One. I was flying with Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State at the time. We were in Vietnam visiting the H峄廰 L貌 Prison, sometimes called the Hanoi Hilton.

That鈥檚 where John McCain was a prisoner of war. We bumped into (Bill) Clinton鈥檚 presidential crew there and their commander said he wanted to hire me for Air Force One. From then on, I was only with the president.鈥� Over the next decade, Bennett served with Clinton during his last six months in office, President George W. Bush for eight years and President Barack Obama for two-and-a-half years. 鈥淚t鈥檚 neat to see presidents in a relaxed mode. They don鈥檛 want to wear a suit all the time. It鈥檚 different to see them in a t-shirt and shorts or a pair of sweats,鈥� Bennett said. After a career in the military, Bennett said the Cat-Tran has been a great way to spend his retirement. He said the camaraderie with the other drivers makes it easy to come to work. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like your second family here. We all get along. We keep up with each other if anything鈥檚 going on, take up a donation if someone needs help. We鈥檙e here for each other and we鈥檙e pretty close,鈥� he said.

In Bennett鈥檚 case, the other drivers are actually family. He recruited his older brother, Lee, to join him two years ago. 鈥淚 never thought about becoming a Cat-Tran driver,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to. I said that I鈥檇 never learn all those routes. I know them all now.鈥� Lee said his favorite part of the job is the students. 鈥淚 like the interaction. One student, we talked a long time. I saw him a lot. He didn鈥檛 want to go to class.鈥� Lee said. 鈥淚 finally told him, 鈥楲ook, just hang in there and it鈥檒l pay off for you.鈥欌�� Sometime later, Lee and his wife of 45 years were eating at a restaurant in Sylva when he saw the same student. 鈥淗e came to my table and said he was graduating and going into the Air Force as some kind of engineer,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淚 went to talk to his mom, to tell her how much I enjoyed our conversations. The student told his mother that if it wasn鈥檛 for me, he might have dropped out.

I told his mother that she had raised a good kid and she got emotional, started crying. 鈥淚n a way, what we do is a type of ministry. You cheer someone up when they have a bad day. Sometimes they cheer me up when I鈥檓 having a bad day.鈥� Campus ministry is something the two brothers are familiar with. In fact, serving 糖心Vlog students is in their blood. In 1964, their father came to Cullowhee as the first Presbyterian campus minister. 鈥淗e did that for 14 years,鈥� Max said. 鈥淗e was out among the students. They had a little student center for him. He built that space that鈥檚 now a coffee shop on campus, Hillside Grind. That was the Cullowhee Presbyterian Church. In fact, the first thing my dad ever did in the building itself 鈥� they had a wedding 鈥� my dad married my current wife鈥檚 stepdad and mom in 1978.鈥� Growing up in Cullowhee, the brothers have seen their share of change on campus. Lee said he never dreamt that 糖心Vlog would have a transit system. 鈥淭he school has quadrupled in size, it seems, but it was a small campus in the 60鈥檚, maybe 3,500 students. I never imagined that Western would have something like the Cat-Tran back then,鈥� he said. Their colleague Steve Bryson 鈥�84, who graduated with a degree in manufacturing engineering technology, says he wishes he could have ridden the shuttle across campus as an undergraduate. 鈥淚 remembered I鈥檇 get out of class in Stillwell and I had to run 鈥� I mean literally run 鈥� to my next class,鈥� Bryson said. 鈥淲e had 15 minutes if the professor let you leave at the bell. There were different buildings then and it took time to get across campus.鈥�

Like the Bennett brothers, Bryson鈥檚 connection to campus runs deep. His family reaches back more than five generations in Cullowhee and a number of relatives are Catamounts. 鈥淢y parents grew up here and went to high school here. I have an aunt and an uncle who graduated from Western in the 1930鈥檚. It was a teacher鈥檚 college then and my uncle went on to become the principal of the old Scotts Creek School,鈥� Bryson said. Bryson even went to elementary school on campus with the Bennett family. He started first grade in the McKee Building. 鈥淓ventually, we all went to Camp Laboratory School. Lee was a year older, but his brother Tim and I were in the same grade together. We all graduated together, pretty much,鈥� Bryson said. Like Max, Bryson was in the Air Force. He said, for him, one of the best parts of driving the Cat-Tran is serving students affiliated with the military. 鈥淲e have a lot of students that are ex-military, or someone who has been called to go to drill that weekend. We have a lot of Marine reserves, Army reserves, Air National Guard, all here going to school and going to drill on the weekends,鈥� Bryson said. 鈥淚 like to talk to and encourage them.鈥� Whether it鈥檚 for the camaraderie, family ties or service to the students, all the drivers agree that driving the Cat-Tran is a stress-free, fun job. 鈥淚 like getting a paycheck, but I鈥檇 do this for free,鈥� Bryson said. 鈥淒riving around and waving at people, to offer a ride to those in need 鈥� it鈥檚 the best job I鈥檝e ever had.鈥�