Sponsored Content from Metro Transit
Know your Operator: Sophia Ali
- Years of service: 7
- Lives: Burnsville
- Garage: Nicollet
- Family: Husband and three kids
After 10 years of waiting in a refugee camp, Sophia Ali finally arrived in the United States in 2001. “It wasn’t a welcoming time for Muslims like me. I was called many names,” Ali said. “But I never gave up hope.”
That hope is what helped her to achieve her dream of getting a college education, which was interrupted by the civil war in Somalia, and took the life of her father. “War is no joke,” she said. “I wish people wouldn’t talk about it so casually.”
When she arrived in New York, her uncle living in Minnesota told her to come stay with them. Here, she began working and eventually became a teller and personal banker. “My father was a businessman, so I was always interested in numbers,” Ali said.
The hours were long and she still was unable to go to college. In 2014, her bus operator husband suggested she work at Metro Transit part-time. Her decision to apply put her on a course to realize her dreams.
“Metro Transit gave me the accessibility to go to college and raise my kids,” she said. “This is a great place to work. I’d have a different outcome if I worked somewhere else.”
Today, she has a degree in business and multicultural resource management. And, when she’s not operating a bus, she’s proud to be investing in the stock market.
We’re hiring
Fast track your way to a new full-time career. No experience in bus operations is required and training is paid. Bus operators receive outstanding benefits like health care, annual salary increases, a pension plan, and an unlimited-ride bus pass. And, as many Metro Transit managers start their careers as operators, there’s also room for growth. Visit metrotransit.org/drive to apply.
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About Metro Transit
Metro Transit is the primary public transportation operator in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest operator in the state.
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