Posted December 03, 2009

Samantha

Personality

Samantha, 16, is my middle child, therefore she loves recognition and validation and talks very fast to ensure that she is heard. And she deserves to be noticed. She is an eager helper and pleaser to anyone around her, and she is a persuasive negotiator even though she also likes things done her way. She is particularly a big help to her younger brother Jacob, constantly teaching him and helping him along with meals, his homework, or his computer. She likes to do her own cooking and laundry, even though I try to send her laundry out. She likes to take business trips with me and she is highly respected by adults. She does her homework independently. She is social, competitive, diplomatic, funny, and particularly generous.

Academic

Samantha is busily disorganized but intellectual. She gets straight A grades at her school in Blue Springs, and mostly A+ grades. When she was in 1st grade, she read 1,200 books when 20 were required, and the principal had to invent a special award for her. She was third in the Kansas City region (two states) in a math competition, and one of the top spellers in her school spelling bee. She volunteers for extra assignments and creative projects, including the recent Reflections contest where she she submitted entries for not one, but five categories: literature, music composition, visual composition, photography, and graphic arts. In 2007, Samantha was home schooling so that she could travel with her family. Her extreme drive and intellectualism made her highly suited for this and she progressed at several times the rate of her former classmates using the same textbooks.  Samantha returned to school that fall having advanced an extra year into 9th grade. She is now in 11th grade. She is already taking her ACT test.

Activities

In the past, Samantha has participated in organized swimming, baseball, gymnastics, jazz dance, ballet, walking club, and piano lessons. Her strength is not in her natural skill, but in her drive. She liked to bicycle with her family until the third time she got stitches on her chin. She likes to ski but she scares me because she is so confident. But Samantha is also one of the top three runners in her high school. She won the first school cross country race that she ever ran, and was the top runner from her school in every race in middle school year, 7th grade. She bypassed 8th grade in the school district, and has consistently been in the in the top three runners on the varsity cross country team as a freshman and sophomore.  She has recently run as far as 18 miles at a time, in training.  She loves running with me. In 2007, she and I finished a 26.2 mile Marathon; she has now run two marathons; and we are planning to run the Memphis Marathon in December 2008. She also has a life-time membership at 24-hour Fitness and enjoys lifting weights. Additionally, Samantha has been playing the violin for three years. After a year, she began to play in the Youth Symphony of Kansas City, was designated as first chair in her grade, and got into honors orchestra at school. She has been taking 2 to 4 half-hour private lessons each week in our home. My best word to describe her is driven.

Interests

Samantha is always curious to sample new things, getting interested in them easily and getting over them just as fast. In the past, top gift requests have been a pogo stick, a unicycle, a metal detector, and a sewing machine. She is also the self-designated baker in the family, and with her energy she is the only one of us who can afford to eat what she makes. Samantha picks out her own tasteful clothing and makeup, and does not even have pierced ears anymore. She prefers flip-flops. Samantha has visited 13 countries, and the country that she most wants to visit is Egypt. Her favorite foods are feta cheese, on almost everything, and sushi.

Inclination

Samantha is highly logical and driven.  She is savvy with technology, learning html programming on her own, and creating her own website about the health dangers of MSG. She is detailed about health, momentarily been a vegetarian, and determined about abstinence. She loves Jesus Christ and the prophets, and is meticulous about getting things right, and will always seek truth and logic in religion.  She is great with audio, video, and graphic technologies. She is quick to learn the features of computer peripherals like cameras. She reads more non-fiction than my other children, and loves to be in a bookstore, but recently started reading fiction again which is getting her much needed quiet time.

Future

Samantha plans to be a lawyer someday, and she would be a good one, but she can do anything that she wants. She already gives sound business advise.

Samantha is pictured below as photographed by her brother Jacob

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