Freshman year of college, I was given the assignment of writing an autobiography. I thought a lot about who I am, where I am from, and how I would present all of this information. I sat down to begin brainstorming and as I got out my computer, I realized the best way to sum up who I am is to look at the stickers on my laptop.
Charlotte sticker:
I was born and raised in Charlotte North Carolina. Living in Charlotte gave me amazing opportunities, friends, and will always be the place I call home. In Charlotte, I played on travel lacrosse teams and my high school varsity team. I participated in volunteer work and spent much of my time with the Charlotte Jewish community.
Israel and Oy Vey Stickers:
Being Jewish is the biggest part of my life. The majority of things I have done have had a connection to Judaism. I attended a Jewish preschool and through tenth grade participated in Hebrew school. I truly found my niche in the Jewish community in ninth grade when I joined a teen led Jewish organization, BBYO. In BBYO, I expanded my leadership skills, made friends that will last a life time, and had experiences locally and internationally that changed my life forever.
With BBYO, I participated in a trip called The March of the Living, a two-week trip to Poland and Israel overlapping with Yom Hashoa (Holocaust Remembrance Day), Yom Haatzmaot (Israeli Independence Day) and Yom Hazikaron (Israeli Memorial Day). On the trip, I visited Auschwitz, Birkenau, Majdnek, and Treblinka. I marched alongside 10000 Jewish teens from Auschwitz to Birkenau and then went to Israel. This trip brought me so much closer to my Judaism. Through this trip I not only gained knowledge about the Holocaust, but found my love of education through travel. Since then I have studied in Havana Cuba and Granada Spain.
I’d rather be at camp sticker:
Another fundamental aspect of my life is sleepaway camp. The past twelve summers I have attended Camp Barney Medintz, a Jewish sleep away camp in Cleveland, Georgia. Camp to me, is the safest, happiest, and most inspiring place on earth. My eight summers as a camper gave me life changing experiences including a three-day hike on the Appalachian trail, spending 24 hours in the woods alone, and a 6-day trip out of camp where we went white water rafting, zip-lining and so much more. My four years on staff allowed me to give back to a place that gave me so much and to form bonds with campers that shared a love with me of my summer place.
Camp is always on my mind and throughout the school year I wanted to find a way to make camp a part of my everyday life. My involvement with Wayfinders organization kept camp in my life during the school year. Wayfinders sends underserved children in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System who show good character and academic potential to sleepaway camp all expenses paid. My part in the organization involved coordinating the annual clothing drive and planning activities for events throughout the school year. More recently, I have worked with the director and administrative assistant to provide resources for and improve communication with the families.
Empowered sticker:
I am a strong, passionate, empowered young woman and my goal for the future is to find a way to make an impact in lives of others.
Lastly, just a few of my favorite things:
Mind at work and Daddy’s calling stickers:
I am a huge Broadway fan!
Giraffe Sticker:
Giraffes are my favorite animals.
Phish Food Ice Cream Sticker:
I love anything chocolate especially Ice cream and my favorite flavor is Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food.
Lizzie McGuire In a Maryland Shirt:
As a child, my favorite show was Lizzie McGuire and of course I love the university of Maryland! Go Terps!
Defining who I am seemed like a very difficult task because the definition continues to change daily. The stickers on my computer are just a few core aspects of my life that will never change.
Samantha Levinson 