I live on Long Island, New York. And every year, this suburban sprawl of towns and hamlets with distinctive school districts boasts of many semi-finalists and finalist in the
Intel Science competition.
Some school districts have had as many as seven kids in the semi-finals, and a few times, Long Island has produced the winner.
But this year, we have the winner- even though the finalist has yet to be chosen.
Her name is Samantha Garvey, and her wonderful story is below the squiggly thing.
Samantha Garvey is a 17 year old high school senior from Brentwood, LI. And she was named one of the 300 semi-finalists in the Intel Science competition. Coming from Long Island, that would not be news. Coming from Brentwood makes it an interesting story, since Brentwood is not a wealthy school district, not like Jericho or Port Washington, who produce semi-finalists every year.
But what makes this story fabulous is that Samantha is homeless!
Samantha first became homeless when she was a little girl, and although the family had improved their lot by staying in a home for several years, a car accident last year forced Samantha's parents to lose work, and ultimately, were evicted from their home.
Now living in a shelter, Samantha acknowledges that being uprooted and worrying about finances can make it difficult to focus on school.
You think about what is going on, where you are going to be, off in the middle of nowhere, stuck in a shelter and it worries you. The house we were living in had a dog, a cat, turtles. Then one day someone turns around and says, "You have to leave."
So, despite the fact that the dog may have to be put down, and her cat away with relatives, Samantha maintains a 3.6 GPA with AP classes in literature politics, biology, composition and statistics.
And while living at a shelter with her parents and her 13 year old twin brother and sister, she also is chapter president of the National Honor Society, studies Italian and plays the flute.
Her quote for the article says it best.
It's amazing," she said, after learning of the award. "I can't believe it. I was thinking about it the other day and said,'Nah, it's not going to happen. They pick people in Roslyn, Great Neck, Jericho...people who have it all.
So, since she doesn't 'have it all', whatdya think, Newt? Should she forfeit her education to clean toilets?
Here's the link to the Newsday article. I humbly apologize for leaving it out.One Intel Semifinalist In Homeless Shelter