Hebrew Academy students have adopted the mottos “Live Like Sammy” and “Smile for Sammy” in the wake of his tragic passing to emulate and remember Sammy’s happy demeanor. To honor his memory and continue his legacy, The Warrior Word now features a weekly column dedicated to Sammy.
“When me and Sammy were in 6th and some of 7th grade, we were really close and we lived in the same building. We would hang out and play all these games together. One of the games we’d play, is we’d go down to the swimming pool, and we’d have a competition of who could swim from one end of the pool to the other without breathing at all. We’d play this game all the time. I remember that at the beginning he couldn’t get to the end of the pool without breaking. He’d get up and say ‘Yeah, I’m up for air.’ And I remember saying, ‘Okay, whatever, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter, you don’t need to be able to do it.’ I remember Sammy would train himself, and do this a million times, and he’d go underwater and above, underwater and above, until he was able to do the whole pool without breathing. From this, I learned that even if it’s something as small as holding your breath under the pool, if you persevere, you can train yourself to do anything you set your mind to. Because of this, Sammy was able to accomplish many things in his short life just by not giving up.” – Eliana Pollack (10th)
Compiled by Samantha Ebner (11th)
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