DONNA – For about a decade, a Donna man was a dedicated bus driver. But his career goal was to become a certified school teacher and he worked to make it a reality.

Daniel Trevino would make sure students arrived at school on time, and now he teaches social studies at Donna High School.

He still calls being inside a bus a second home. “It’s natural for me to drive a bus. I love it,” he said.

Trevino pointed out how being a bus driver and becoming a teacher was a big transition; each job shares similar responsibilities but they’re different.

“It’s amazing. It’s a totally different environment but the responsibility is about the same. These bus drivers go through a lot. They go through a lot of student behavior. They go through a lot of weather. And going to teacher, it’s a transition. It’s a different environment. I know what a teacher goes through and I see the stress they go through. But I see the enjoyment,” he said.

Trevino’s motivation, he said, was his family.

“And my son told me, ‘What college did you go to?’ And I had nothing to tell him. So I said, ‘You know what? I need to do this.’ And it was hard. It was difficult. I wanted to give up so many times,” he said.

It took Trevino nine years, and the university changed names at least twice, before he received his degree.

“My day started at 5:30 in the morning and ended at 9 o’clock at night. It was a rough patch. I would go to work, go to school, go back to work,” he explained.

Luis Solis, Trevino’s boss at the transportation department, mentioned it was happy but sad day when Trevino made the change.

“A big contributor to the development of our department, but at the same time, again, I was very excited for him. He had goals,” Solis said.

Trevino’s fellow bus drivers were quick to congratulate him. There will always be that bond, he said.

“Like all the drivers, you get to know them, their families. I’ve known the majority of them for 10 years,” he said.

“My dad just proved to me with any obstacle that he goes through, I can just as well do the same thing and tackle any situation,” Christian Trevino said.

Trevino still gets to know the students, but now he also deals with their grades.

You can catch Con Mi Gente segments Tuesdays and Thursdays on CHANNEL 5 NEWS THIS MORNING and CHANNEL 5 NEWS at 5.