Former Cougar Lynne Machtemes reflects on her time at Caldwell
CALDWELL, N.J. (BVM) — Caldwell University has a proud community of alumni. So often the university’s alumni visit the school to help current students with job searches, resume building, and sharing the knowledge they have acquired in their field of expertise.
Former Caldwell softball player and class of 1998 graduate Lynne Machtemes is one of those alumnus that takes the time to help current students. Lynne is now a family attorney and a member of the Caldwell alumni association. She has spoken at events and has helped with resume workshops.
“Personally it’s been a great experience,” Said Machtemes. “I love the people who are on the board. I love that it keeps me connected to things going on at Caldwell. It gives me the opportunity to meet and work with other students.”
Alumni involvement is important for any campus, but especially for a small college like Caldwell. The alumni who give back to Caldwell have always understood how beneficial their involvement on campus is to the students.
“I think it’s important for the students to see that the school has such a positive impact on its students that people want to be involved after they leave,” said Machtemes. “It says something about the college when people who have graduated want to come back and give back.”
After graduating from Caldwell, Lynne became a family attorney. She helps families get through issues like divorce and child custody. The law firm she represents, Iocullo Martino LLC, is a small New Jersey based law firm that requires full teamwork from everyone in order to thrive. Lynne learned about the importance of being able to work as a team during her time on the Caldwell softball team.
“Sports develop a part of our personality and character that I truly don’t think anything else can do. Obviously when you play on a team you’re accountable to your teammates and you’re responsible to your teammates,” said Machtemes. “I say all the time that there are so many parallels to professional life and sports because I work in a small firm, but we all have the same goal in common. Sports teaches us how to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.”
Lynne’s time at Caldwell greatly shaped the person she is today. The relationships she made between teachers, classmates, and fellow students helped her become the successful professional that she is. However, nobody made a bigger impact on her than Dean Johnson, the head softball coach at Caldwell that has built a very successful program.
“Coach Johnson was my coach for four years. We had such a great team that played together,” said Machtemes. “He took the program over from another coach when it was really young and the commitment he made was special to us. He devoted so much of his time to building the program. You could knock on his door anytime and he would be there for you.”
Lynne was a Caldwell scholar as well, which is awarded to students who have tremendous academic achievements. While she was a student, Lynne wrote and presented a novel to the school about a young female athlete trying to get an opportunity to play sports in college. It highlighted how far women’s collegiate sports had come, and how far it still needed to go. Lynne wrote this over twenty years ago, and in that time the opportunities for women in sports has grown tremendously.
“Compared to when I played, the opportunity for girls in sports has exploded. When I played from 94’-98’ that was considered really progressive. It was interesting to me how far women sports programs had come,” Said Machtemes.
Lynne Machtemes has achieved great things during and after graduating from Caldwell. She often gives her time and knowledge back to Caldwell and the current students. These contributions of time, energy, and knowledge from alumni is part of what makes Caldwell special.
