Proud Lakewood lifer
Published 12:01 am Monday, January 10, 2011
Meet Samantha Adams, 18, a senior at Lakewood High School:
Q: We keep hearing about Lakewood Lifers. What does it mean?
A: Well, I am a proud Lakewood Lifer. I’ve gone to school here all 12 years and kindergarten.
Q: What’s so special about Lakewood?
A: It’s a little utopia with a small town atmosphere. We’re a small enough school that we all know and support each other, but big enough to have good programs. We have an amazing faculty and staff. My teachers and coaches have a lot to do with my success. They have given me confidence and determination.
Q: Volleyball has been a big part of your life. What happened during your final season?
A: Yeah, I started playing volleyball as a first grader. And I’ve helped coach youth teams and groups at the Arlington Boys and Girls Club.
I am a setter, and this year I was captain and I broke the school record for the number of sets in a game. Most of our team are seniors, so we really wanted to go to state. That didn’t happen, but we did play in the district tournament.
Q: What about other sports?
A: I throw the javelin for track. This spring I hope to break the school record, which is 135 feet. A bunch of us are doing some preseason training, so maybe I’ll make it.
Q: What else keeps you busy?
A: Along with coaching volleyball, I’ve volunteered at NOAH, at Camp Killoqua and for a youth track camp teaching little kids to throw javelins.
I’m vice president of the senior class and president of honor society. My classes include calculus, honors English, advanced government and forensics. And I’m on the Hi-Q team.
Q: What are your favorite subjects?
A: I love science and history. This past summer I did a biomedical internship at the Gardner Lab at the University of Washington. I helped my mentor do experiments regarding the small protein ubiquitin and the role it might play in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
Q: And history? Do you get called Sam Adams, after the signer of the Declaration of Independence?
A. Yes, it’s a nickname. I’ve always been fascinated by history and especially by ancient Egypt. When I was a kid, I learned to write my name in hieroglyphics. I even bought a Rosetta Stone language kit so I could learn to speak Arabic. I had to stop this year, because I need to concentrate on my third year of Spanish.
I also want to travel. When I was 7, I ate a fish filet sandwich at McDonald’s and won four tickets from Disney to the Bahamas. I’m an only child, so I asked my parents if we could take the 15-year-old neighbor boy. The trip really whetted my appetite for world travel. I might want to study international relations and travel to Egypt.
Q: Where do you want to go for college?
A: I’ve been accepted at Whitworth College in Spokane*. I guess it depends on what I want to study, and at a small college I might be able to play sports. But the University of Washington is the place to go for science.
Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
* A previous version of this story misidentified the college.
