Samantha Chew

Samantha Chew, also known as Sammy, is a curious student who is always chasing the questions, but is most intrigued with current events, criminal law, and psychology. Sammy’s passions are powered by her love of true crime whether it is podcasts or books, she loves them all! As well as her love for true crime, she is also a very competitive and athletic teen. She plays club volleyball as a setter and she finds a lot of success through the sport with both leadership and skill. 

When Sammy was younger, she found herself interested in books and she couldn’t keep her eyes out of these pages. Her mom was scared that she wouldn’t be able to socialize with other kids because she was obsessed with Nancy Drew or The Boxcar Children, so her mom ended up taking all her mystery books away from her which, at first, made Sammy quite mad, but she eventually found a way to read these books. As Sammy began her journey as a young teen, she | and still to this day she loves them and will never stop reading this style of writing. 

Looking back, Sammy grew up not knowing about how her impact on climate change is so important. Trash was everywhere, and when people littered or left their trash, she thought it was normal. When she went to beaches and saw trash, she never thought to pick it up because she believed that her impact didn’t matter. The older she got, the worse plastic pollution became, and she decided to take charge. She began her journey of beach cleanups over the years, which became very successful because many people in the community wanted to make that change. She felt that she greatly impacted her community and that her choice of cleaning up does matter. Now she advocates for plastic use and beach cleanups because if it's not done now, her future generation will have to face the consequences. 

Building leadership both in and out of school, she is engaged with Leadership/ASB and Berkeley Math Circle, and she received Gold Honor Roll for her academics at school. Outside of class, she is actively engaged with her volleyball team, Lincoln Douglass Debate, Impromptu Speech and more. She would also like to develop new youth-led initiatives tackling the issues of mental health, racism and climate change, all to bring forth a more sustainable world for future generations. 

Looking ahead, Sammy wishes to go to UCs or potentially Ivy Leagues to pursue her interests across law and business and further becomes a businesswoman focused on an environmental angle that she is passionate about. In addition to law and business, Sammy is also interested in Psychology because she finds the human brain to be very fascinating.