Meet Sam Merrin
Sam Merrin is a computer literacy teacher at a Santa Rosa high school, where she is currently in charge of teaching computer programming and web design. She spends most of her time in the classroom or grading coursework, but when she finds a little free time for herself, she makes good use of it. In the summertime, when she has nearly two months of vacation, she enjoys traveling to anywhere she can afford, and she frequently makes trips to other continents. So far, she has been to Europe multiple times, and right now, she is in the process of planning another excursion. Luxembourg is by far her favorite country to visit, and if she is able to return to Europe this summer, the grand dutchy will definitely be on her tour list.
Sam Merrin resides in Sonoma County and feels fortunate to live and work in the same region she has lived off and on throughout her life. She grew up in the California wine region, and she often spent her childhood summers on her grandparent’s winery. She even tried her hand at working for a winery as a PR Associate before she became a teacher. Although studying education was in her original plan when she first entered college, she put in on the back burner in preference for pursing a PR career. After she graduated from San Jose State University with a BA in Education and a Minor in Public Relations, she began looking for a winery that needed to expand its PR staff. Unfortunately, she found little openings, and even fewer companies that were willing to take a chance on an inexperienced graduate, and after struggling as a low profile, low income PR Associate for a Santa Rosa winery for two and a half years, she decided it was time to move on. In 2006, Sam Merrin dusted off her resume and began applying for teaching and tutoring positions in the area. A friend of hers had heard several local schools were desperately needing computer lit teachers and mentioned that since Sam Merrin had always had an affinity for technology and had even taken several computer science classes in college, she should apply and see what came of it. Her friend was right; Sam Merrin was hired on the spot during her first interview.
Sam Merrin has been a teacher for almost two years now, and she loves the challenges that accompany educating young minds, from the frustration of dealing with students, parents, and school boards to fighting education budget cuts. However, what keeps Sam Merrin at her job is the few students who are in her class to learn, not surf the net, flirt online, or get a passing grade, but who are truly interested in learning the material and doing well in her class. They remind her of herself when she used to occupy their very seats. Looking out at her class, Sam Merrin remembers the really good teachers she had in high school, the ones who loved being in the classroom and who were passionate about teaching, and she desires nothing more than to live up to their legacy and to be remembered just as fondly, as someone who truly cares about her students and their futures. Sam Merrin has many teachers and professors to thank for how far she has come since her adolescence, and it is because of their dedication to education that she strives to overcome the daily challenges she faces in order to be the best possible teacher she can be.
Outside of work, Sam Merrin’s passion for helping people translates easily into her hobbies of blogging about life and posting on discussion forums. She loves being an active part of forums where she can exchange ideas, post questions, and offer answers or help on subjects that are relevant to her personal experience. Sam Merrin answers every question with heartfelt sincerity and concern, treating everyone as though they were a friend or a colleague who was seeking her honest opinion or advice and genuinely needing a feasible solution to a deeply personal problem. Sam Merrin also spends a great deal of her free time exercising her mind with good literature and exercising her body with ballroom dancing and Pilates classes. She is also very fond of sewing, concerts, old movies, gymnastics, soccer, art galleries, and food and wine events in the Napa Valley and Sonoma regions. When she is not confined to her house, due to preparing engaging classes or having to correct stacks of homework, Sam Merrin thoroughly enjoys the rare occasions she has the opportunity to break free and get away from it all, and she can be found most weekends enjoying one of her many leisure pursuits that stimulate her senses and keep both her wits and her body nimble.