Samantha Garvey, the Long Island teen whose academic success in the face of her family's financial difficulty inspired the country, attended President Obama's State of the Union address last night, at the invitation of Rep. Steve Israel. Israel shared photos of Garvey's trip on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, noting things like, "Samantha Garvey just arrived in DC for State of Union. A bite of pizza @ hotel before mtg with WH Science Advisor."
After being selected as one of the country's 300 Intel Science Talent Search semi-finalists, Garvey, a senior at Brentwood High School, was interviewed by Newsday and revealed that her family had been kicked out of their home during the holidays (her parents, who had been out of work for a while after a car accident, fell behind on rent payments). Suffolk County officials found a home for the her, her parents and siblings, and Israel offered her an internship.
Garvey appeared on the Today Show this morning and said of being in D.C., "Just being there, it was the craziest feeling. Being behind the scenes, you get this perspective that you never dream of having. This is completely once in a lifetime." She also told Ann Curry, "I would say that my research, my science, has been my ticket out. Throughout all the things I’ve faced, I’ve been able to go to school and get my education, pursue my research and do my studies. That’s been my way out. That’s been able to keep me focused and keep me from going off-track."
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Garvey was not selected as one of the 40 Intel finalists, who were announced today, but we expect she'll continue to succeed everywhere else.
