Words of wisdom: It’s nice to be nice.
Samantha Levine, The Chronicle’s February Salute to Youth honoree, may or may not have heard that saying. However one thing is for sure, she lives it.
“Samantha Levine is nice,” said a girl in B’not Lev, Samantha’s BBG chapter, during a recent conversation about local Jewish teens.
And vice versa.
“In fact, she’s not friends with anyone who isn’t nice.”
Samantha, the 18-year-old daughter of Julie and Terry Levine, is currently Kansas City BBYO’s council president. As such, she leads about 200 area teens in programming, leadership training, social action and community service opportunities. She was nominated for the honor by BBYO Director Debi Tozer.
“Many people would describe Samantha as a charismatic, focused and exceptional young lady. Samantha is responsible, organized, smart and compassionate,” Tozer said. “She is respected by her peers and the adults she works alongside. She is an amazing role model and of great benefit to BBYO as well as the community.”
Samantha said her mother suggested she consider joining BBYO when she was 14, but she came to love it on her own.
“I just love the people,” she said.
She’s been active in the teen organization both locally and nationally. She’s held several leadership positions in her chapter, including serving as president. She’s been to regional convention and attended a national Kallah in Pennsylvania where she met Jewish teens from all over the United States. Most recently she attended BBYO International Convention in Los Angeles.
She said the experience has taught her a lot.
“I think I’ve learned to be confident and how to be serious and also how to have fun at the same time,” the high school senior said.
As a leader Tozer described Samantha as an all-star. The same could be said about her achievements in her chosen sport, Tae Kwon Do, where she’s earned a black belt. In fact of all the honors and awards she’s earned over the years, Samantha said her proudest accomplishment is earning her black belt.
She took up the sport about five years ago.
“Tae Kwon Do gives you a lot of confidence and gets you into shape,” she said.
The confidence she’s gained from Tae Kwon Do has given her the courage to seek out those BBYO leadership positions and excel at Blue Valley North High School, where she’s a member of National Honors Society, National Art Honor Society and sings in the choir.
When she goes away to college next year, she expects she’ll probably keep up her Tae Kwon Do by joining a club on campus. She thinks she’s narrowed her college choices to either the University of Kansas or Indiana.
“Right now I’m leaning more toward Kansas,” she said. “It’s closer to home and I know that they have a good art program. I figure it will be a lot easier to handle being away from home because it’s only a 45-minute drive from here.”
Being close to home could give Samantha more opportunities to eat her favorite Jewish food, her grandmother’s (Fran Small, who she calls Mimi) matzah ball soup.
“My grandma knows how to make it delicious for every Passover seder,” Samantha enthusiastically reports.
The Levines belong to The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah. As Samantha sorts out which college she wants to attend, she said another thing in KU’s favor is the success of KU Hillel. That’s because staying involved in Jewish life is important to her.
“There’s a big Jewish population there so I think it could be a good choice. But Indiana could be good, too,” she said.
“Since I’ve had such a great experience being involved in Jewish life in high school I really want to continue that on through college,” said Samantha.
One of her fondest memories in her young life so far is of a National Conference of Synagogue Youth trip to Israel she took in the summer of 2009. She especially enjoyed the opportunity she had to experience Shabbat while in Tzfat.
“I remember we sat outside during the service on top of a hill when the gorgeous sun was setting. Tzfat is such a mystical, historical city and to spend it with about 50 other Jewish teens was truly special. It was the most spiritual Shabbat that I have ever experienced,” said Samantha, who also participates in JSU (Jewish Student Union), which meets weekly at BVN.
While she plans to make her final decision about college soon, she is enjoying her final year in high school. One of her favorite subjects is art and she recently took a class where she could concentrate on building her portfolio for college.
“It was really cool because I got to explore painting and drawing and all different kinds of things. I’ve also done ceramics and photography but I think my favorite thing is painting.”
“It’s cooler than drawing and it has permanence to it and it’s therapeutic,” she said.
A career in art could be in her future and her resume will show that she’s already been recognized for her artistic talents. She used those talents to show her support for her mother, who is also the person she most admires.
“She has been a warrior through battling her breast cancer, and I have always admired her strength and courage,” Samantha said.
Last year a team representing Julie Levine participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure to raise funds for breast cancer research. To show unity, the team decided they would wear matching t-shirts and Samantha was recruited to design it.
“Mine won the award for the most creative,” she said.
