In her application for the AFF scholarship last year, Samantha Riley wrote about a group close to her heart: the Girl Scouts. Samantha started Girl Scouts at age six, continued up until her senior year, and was awarded the Bronze and Silver Awards for eighty hours of community service! To fulfill her hours, Samantha focused on the Clinton Community Library and decided to paint an open room and completely redo it to make it a quiet area for people to study. For the Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouts USA, Samantha had plans to create a craft closet in Ferncliff Nursing Home, but unfortunately the pandemic halted these plans.
Currently, Samantha is a freshman at Siena College in Albany, and is exploring many different classes before declaring a major. She plans to narrow down the search next semester when—fingers crossed—things are a little bit more normal. At Siena, Samantha participates in a soccer club and is planning on enrolling in a mentoring club next semester. Samantha is also working at the post office, getting packages for UPS, and says this is the best job she's ever had! This summer, she will be heading home to Red Hook and is always looking for new opportunities to volunteer for her community.
Fun fact: Samantha was an Irish step-dancer for ten years!