(By Eliana Shenk ’24, assistant editor)
LVC offers many opportunities, and one student took full advantage of them.
Jacquelyn McBride, a senior English and American Chemical Society (ACS) chemistry major, said yes to many of the activities LVC provides. She is a Valley Ambassador, resident assistant, chemistry and writing tutor, recitation leader and lab teacher’s assistant. She is also on the women’s tennis team and founded the tennis club.
“I made a lot of decisions I wasn’t planning on making and they came out with the best outcome,” she said.
Each activity McBride is a part of has helped her develop as an individual and added to her overall LVC experience. They have also connected her with countless people and helped her build meaningful relationships.
“I think the most enriching moment has been seeing how my impact on the freshman has made them perform better in class,” she said. “Just seeing their growth throughout the semester has been really cool.”
As a double major, McBride has also balanced a rigorous workload on top of all these commitments. This includes her research required for her ACS accreditation in which she worked to discover a way to create plastic out of fruit waste. McBride traveled to Louisiana to present her research to members of the ACS this past March.
McBride is also a crucial member of the women’s tennis team. She has played at first singles for two years, second singles for one year and first doubles for three years, boasting an impressive 78-18 overall record. She won several Mac Player of the Week awards, made the MAC Academic Honor Roll twice, made the All-MAC Commonwealth First Team once and was on the 2022 MAC Commonwealth Championship team.
McBride is grateful for all she has gained from the many opportunities she took advantage of. She offered a word of advice to current and prospective college students.
“Step out of your comfort zone, do things you don’t think you were going to do initially,” she said.
McBride will enter the workforce after graduation as an associate scientist with Eurofins researching raw materials. She hopes to get her doctorate in chemistry in the near future.