Samantha Garvey is a senior in high school in New York, whose family has suffered hard times due to her mother being injured and unable to work, and her father unable to pay the bills and losing their home, resulting in the family living in a homeless shelter.
Samantha is a semifinalist in an Intel Science Talent Search competition, and her story of accomplishment in the midst of tragedy and turmoil is so inspiring that she has been invited as the guest of President Barack Obama for his State of the Union address next week. She has applied for admission to Yale and Brown Universities.
This is a bright moment in the midst of tremendous economic tragedy, not just for her family, but for millions suffering from the collapse of the economy under George W. Bush, and the slow recovery occurring under Barack Obama.