By Robyn St. James
The roar of a motorcycle engine is a unique sound, but many that love it don’t get to hear it up close. Cameron Goins of Plant City went right to his dream job after high school – being a Supercross racing motorcycle technician.
Goins, along with more than 50 other applicants, submitted a two-minute-long video to the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute (MMI), a division of Universal Technical Institute that trains entry-level motorcycle technicians, for a chance to win a $20,000 scholarship applied toward tuition to the school. Goins video showed him riding a bike and speaking in a one-on-one interview. Seven-time Supercross champion Jeremy McGrath said that within seconds of viewing the video, he knew that he would award Goins the scholarship.
Goins graduated from Strawberry Crest High School in Dover in 2013 with a 5.3 GPA. Immediately after graduation, he started at the Orlando MMI campus in late June.
He first became interested in motorcycles when he watched a video of McGrath freeriding in a competition, and has been racing motocross since he was 5-years-old.
“That’s the only sport I’ve stuck with since then and now I’m excelling into making my career a top tech,” Goins said. “I want to travel with a race team and stay in the sport that I love.”
Goins thanked his family for pushing him and keeping him on top of his game no matter what it was. Whether it was dealing with racing or having to do the dishes, he always had someone to make sure he wasn’t slacking.
He also thanked his friend, Will Reyes of Toucan Photography, for filming the video that helped him win the scholarship.
In the next five to 10 years, Goins plans to excel in what he wants to do, and make his career worth everything that he’s worked up to get to.
Getting on a race team is his number one goal, and to build the name of his family’s machine shop, 312 Performance Machine Inc., where much of his experience came from.
For more information about MMI, visit www.uti.edu/programs/motorcycle.
