The College is many things, but easily accessible is not one of them. Many students book ride shares to and from their campuses for school breaks, but residents of the isolated Purple Valley are forced to rely on them more than most. Beth Johnson, a longtime ride-share driver in the Williamstown area, spoke with the Record about her years of experience driving College students to-and-fro. 

Johnson began her ride-share career in 2007. “It all started because I had been an ESL [English as a second language] teacher at Williamstown Elementary School, and the program was shut down, so I lost my job,” she said. “In my church, there was a gentleman who had been driving for Williams for a number of years, so he brought me into the program… I started off working for the College, and then I realized, ‘Hey, I can drive for myself.’” Johnson, who provides private rides, primarily finds her customers via word of mouth.

While carting around boisterous College students at all hours and in all weather conditions is certainly no easy task, Johnson expressed only love and admiration for her work and the students she interacts with. “I love meeting you guys,” she said. “I have the greatest conversations.” 

Johnson said she finds her  exchanges with students even more rewarding than her previous teaching job. “It’s different when you’re a teacher,” she said. “You don’t have as much time to just sit with your students and have a conversation.” 

One of Johnson’s most memorable conversations was with a student from California she began driving during the fall semester of his first fall on campus. “There’s one boy in particular I’ll never forget,” Johnson said. “His parents were ill and very poor and couldn’t afford to fly out with him, so he figured out everything by himself. When I picked him up from the airport, I started asking him some questions. He told me about his family and his story… He ended up graduating top of his class, [majoring] in math.”

Johnson and this student built a rapport over his four years at the College. “I got to drive him and a few other students every week to Greylock High School for tutoring,” she said “I got to watch him every week as he continued to grow up, and remembering who he was and who he became — that’s the highlight of my job right there… I feel gifted to be a part of that story.” 

Johnson does not exclusively drive for students at the College; over the years, she has driven for a few other nearby schools, as well. When asked about the differences between students at the College and those from other institutions, she immediately — and very diplomatically — responded, “Oh, big difference. I don’t know if it’s polite to say. But I prefer the Williams students. I’ll leave it at that.” (“I’ve driven a lot of folks from the Amherst area,” she later added. “They can be out there, but they’re fun. They make me laugh.”) 

While “99 percent” of Johnson’s experiences with students have been positive, there have been, as she put it, some “wackier” drives. “There was one boy — he was on a team,” she said. “I picked him up from the airport to bring him to Williams. When he got to Williams, he said, ‘Oh, I don’t have the money. I can’t pay you right now.’”

Johnson kept texting the student over the next few days, but received no response. Instead, she got in touch with someone who was in the same dorm, to whom she told the story. “He said, ‘Don’t you worry. We’ll get your money,’” Johnson remembered. As it turns out, the dormmate did get Johnson her money — with a tip included.  

That story is just one of many Johnson has collected over the years. She also remembered driving a non-Williams student passenger — and her two dogs — from Boston to a hotel in New York. The passenger had plans to get on a plane with her dogs, but she didn’t realize that she needed special permission to travel with the animals. “She figured she would just tell them that he’s her special dog,” Johnson said. “Of course that didn’t work, so she blamed me. She was maybe a little off-kilter, but she kept calling me up for advice, like three times a day. It was a wacky situation. Even now, one of my daughters will ask me about her.”

Through her work, Johnson has forged a connection with Williams students — even with the “off-kilter” ones. “I’m getting choked up talking about it,” she said. “I get invested in you guys. I care about you. I really do.”

She repeatedly gave the same summary of her perspective and experience with the College: “I have to tell you, I love it. I really do.”