{"id":6003,"date":"2020-04-20T13:39:07","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T13:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/wordpress\/lavie\/?p=6003"},"modified":"2020-04-20T13:39:07","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T13:39:07","slug":"senior-spotlight-machin-takes-the-road-less-traveled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/2020\/04\/20\/senior-spotlight-machin-takes-the-road-less-traveled\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior spotlight: Machin takes the road less traveled"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By\nMegan Finlan \u201921, staff writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nyou first meet Sam Machin, with her kind smile and bubbly personality, her\nplans to become an elementary school teacher seem fitting. But one would never\nimagine the journey Machin took to learn that her true calling was elementary\neducation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a\nsenior in high school, Machin had a dream of one day opening her own coffee shop.\nHeading to LVC with this dream still in place, Machin\u2019s plans quickly changed,\nbut she didn\u2019t mind taking the road less traveled to figure out where she\nwanted to be after graduation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nmost students change their major once or twice throughout their college career,\nMachin changed hers four times by her second semester as a freshman. Starting\nout in business with a focus on the entrepreneurial aspects of the field,\nMachin is now graduating with a degree in early childhood education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy\nself-discovery as a senior has been much different than freshman year, but each\nyear I was thankful to learn much more about myself as an individual through my\nexperience at LVC,\u201d Machin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nMachin journeyed to find where her heart was in terms of her career after\ncollege, she knew she had a passion for music and quickly was recognized for\nher talents. As a freshman, Machin was named the VALE Artist for 2017-2018 and\nhas performed dozens of concerts across campus throughout her time at LVC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy\nexperience with VALE allowed me to figure out my place at LVC,\u201d Machin said. \u201cI\nallowed me to grow as a musician and to feel confident and express myself. I\nwill always be thankful for Dr. Snyder for believing in me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Machin\nwas also able to indulge in her love for travel during her time at LVC. During\nher sophomore year, Machin traveled to Puerto Rico to help restore mangroves\nafter Hurricane Maria hit, and the following year she found herself traveling\nagain, but to the Dominican Republic to teach English to students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between\nconcerts, service trips and planning for her future, Machin admits that there\nhave been times that she\u2019s gotten so caught up in planning that she doesn\u2019t let\nlife have a chance to breathe. She credits some of her closest friends for\nhelping her through these times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring a difficult time in my life, I met my best friends,\u201d Machin said. \u201cThe bond between us is raw and never artificial. Despite them being a year older and already graduating, we are all education majors. They have helped me grow as a future teacher and individual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nMachin reflects on her journey at LVC with all of its twists and turns, she\nshares a few words of wisdom for future Dutchmen who might have some of the\nsame experiences she did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLearn\nmore than you\u2019re taught,\u201d Machin said. \u201cThe world is full of endless questions,\nand we should always keep questioning the world around us. Take in every\nopportunity you can at LVC, because the resources are limitless.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Megan Finlan \u201921, staff writer When you first meet Sam Machin, with her kind smile and bubbly personality, her plans to become an elementary school teacher seem fitting. But one would never imagine the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6003","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-campus-news","8":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}