Alan Fisher is a bus driver for Lincoln students. Fisher grew up commercial fishing with his family in Hoonah, Alaska. He moved to Portland for flight school. He started bus driving to work with students in a professional setting.

“It’s rewarding when I get interaction out of my students and have interesting conversations, [to] see where everyone’s at,” Fisher said. “I also wanted to pick up some skills, like… patience and communication.”

Fisher is also working to earn his commercial flight license. He hopes to eventually fly commercial passenger aircrafts. Bus driving gives him technical experience.

“I just enjoy operating machinery in general,” Fisher said. “It’s rewarding when I get interaction out of my students and have interesting conversations, [to] see where everyone’s at. I also wanted to pick up some skills, like… patience and communication.”

Fisher must balance bus driving and flight school. Every morning at 5:30 a.m., Fisher wakes up for his morning shift. After driving students to school, he studies for his licensing exam, then returns to work for his afternoon shift. Most days, he doesn’t get home until 6:30 p.m. He practices flying on weekends because he doesn’t have time during the week.

Fisher says he tries to eat healthy, sleep as much as he can, and make time for hobbies. He likes spending time outdoors, hiking and camping. Another hobby of his is hunting.

When Fisher retires, he wants to live off his own fishing and hunting. Since he is an Alaskan Native, he has hunting and fishing rights for larger game that he wants to utilize.

For now, Fisher is content to juggle flight school with being a bus driver. He can be found driving bus route 148 every weekday morning and afternoon, smiling and greeting everyone as they climb aboard.