As an Uber driver, my days can be pretty unpredictable. One minute I'm parked on the Syracuse campus, the next I'm off on a new adventure. Hi, my name is Levi and I've been driving for Uber for the past three years in Syracuse, New York. I've racked up over 5,000 trips and have seen it all. Today, I want to share a little bit about what it's like to be an Uber driver and take you along for one of my trips.

I just turned on the app and was looking for my first trip. The first one came in and it was a 30-minute trip for only $7. As an experienced driver, I know that this type of trip with multiple stops is not worth it. It's not even minimum wage. But then another trip came in, $4.86 for 15 minutes and I decided to take it. Even with multiple stops, I knew it was still a profitable trip.

I used a keyboard shortcut to let the passenger know I was on my way, and set off to pick them up. This is pretty standard for me, a five-minute pickup a mile or two away, especially at 9am. However, finding the exact location can be challenging. Sometimes, house numbers are not obvious and GPS can be finicky. This passenger's GPS wasn't working quite right, but I was able to find them eventually.

Once I arrived, I had a two-minute free waiting time. However, since the passenger hadn't responded to any of my text messages, I made a polite call to let them know I was there. The passenger walked out the door and finally found me. It was an old passenger I had given a ride to almost a year ago, a young man from Afghanistan trying to make his way in America. He shared with me some great stories.

I dropped him off first, and then his friend, a religion student at Syracuse University. She was kind and educated me on some ideas about religion. As an Uber driver, you never know who you're going to meet or where the road will take you. It's a unique and interesting job, with it's ups and downs. But the memories and experiences make it all worth it.