Just A Little About Me...

Hi everyone! My name is Samantha Markovitz and I am a sophomore here at SLU. Don’t be shy, you can call me Sam, Sammie or ever Slammin’ Sam if you would like. I am from Los Angeles California, but I was born in Philadelphia and lived in St. Louis Missouri for 16 years, so I am not your typical “Cali Girl”. Living in L.A is how you see it on T.V; pretty blond girls, fit hunky tan men, nice cars, amazing houses and celebs walking around like normal people. It is surreal to live there after growing up in the Midwest and very humbling when I come to school up in the North Country, but I know that if I would never have moved to L.A because of my fathers job, I wouldn’t have found SLU or be the person I am today.

Ever since I was little my dad used to take our family on adventures; hiking, biking, and anything that was active. A huge part of my life is spending time outdoors and exploring. I have spent many summers exploring the country hiking, mountain biking, canoeing and white water rafting. Besides loving to spend time outdoors I like to give back and volunteer if I can get the chance to. I also love photography, laughing, and smilingJ.

I am not sure what I would like to study yet, but because of my love for the outdoors I am thinking about studying Environmental Studies. I think I would like it because it is interesting to me and in today’s world we have many problems with the environment and I would love to help out and make a difference.

For my writing career, considering I haven’t done much of it, I have gotten a bit of both negative and positive feedback. I get frustrated with myself when I get bad feedback, but I never get discouraged so I guess you could say I have never had a bad experience. Each experience is different, and it is all part of the learning process for me.

One of my favorite poets is E.E. Cummings for quite a strange reason, or it might be for some. My favorite poem is I Carry Your Heart With Me because every time I read it I think of my sister. There is a movie called In Her Shoes, which is about sisters and she reads it at her wedding and ever since then I cry every time I read it. It means so much to me, not just because it was read in the movie, but because of its content. The way he writes really speaks to me because I feel as if he is speaking directly to me. I also like Elizabeth Bishop, especially One Art, again because I can resonate with her poems.

Poetry is a great source of reflection. Poetry can also be a type of therapy, private or public. It is a good way to express your feelings and learn more about yourself or others. I hope to learn more about myself, more about my abilities as a writer and as a person. I have always used poetry to express myself and I want to push my boundaries and step outside the box to see just how far I can really grow.