An All Around People Person
Samantha Zaharis is a people person. She finds time to dedicate herself to her large Greek family, her best friends and even strangers she doesn’t know.
Zaharis, a junior at ECU transferred from Tompkins-Cortland Community College in upstate N.Y. This decision was based on a winter experience when she and her current roommate were snowed in for three days in N.Y.
They were stuck under seven feet of snow and couldn’t get outside on the first day. Zaharis had to beg her dad to plow her car out on the third day so they could leave. This is what made them decide that they wanted to go to school down South.
“The South is very different but I really like it. The people are really genuine here,” Zaharis said.
When moving down south, Zaharis left many things behind, including a large extended
family and an immediate family of two sisters, Karissa, 14, and Molly, 17.
“Our family really embraces the Greek heritage,” said Zaharis.
About 75-100 people attend the Zaharis family reunions. They play games and do traditional Greek dances at the night time dinners and stay up until four or five in the morning enjoying each other’s company.
Not only does Zaharis dedicate her time to her Greek family in Ithaca, N.Y., but also dedicated her time to her multiple hobbies when she lived up North.
In high school, Zaharis played soccer on a club team and won the division for a few years in a row. She was also on her school’s track team and played tennis for fun. Some of her hobbies included sailing and mountain skiing when she lived in N.Y.
She is also a big Red Sox baseball fan and watches all of their games on television. She was “born and raised to be a Red Sox fan.”
Zaharis is also involved with ECU’s Student Government Association. She was elected to the class council last semester and currently they are working on a class project. Her position is pretty much a “cabinet” for their class officer, Patrick Sebastion.
She was also very involved in SGA at her previous college and was the secretary. They did a fundraiser called Power of the Penny and collected people’s spare change, did bake sales and raised 10,000 dollars to start a scholarship fund for students who are active members of the college.
“I like to help people, that is why I got involved. Some of the groups I was a liaison for at my old school still call me for advice from time to time,” said Zaharis.
Zaharis is also active in Relay for Life. She has been involved with it for the past five years and is currently a co-chair for the ceremonies committee at ECU.
Zaharis was a psychology and education major at her community college but then switched to a communication major when she enrolled at ECU.
“My favorite high school teacher told me that this was the field I needed to go into,” said Zaharis.
After she completes her communication degree in public relations with a minor in hospitality, she plans to attend graduate school for event management.
Now living in Greenville, N.C. Zaharis is employed at Sam’s Club and has worked there since the end of this past July. She works about 25 hours a week, but lately has been working 30 since they are understaffed.
Zaharis’s friends and family all have described her as a loving, dedicated friend. She always makes time to keep in touch with everyone, even if they are states away. All of them can also recall tons of memories with Zaharis from the past.
Her sister, Karissa, thinks it is hard to narrow down all the good times her sister and her have had together. One of these memories would be going to Cayuga Lake during the summer. Karissa remembers hanging out, swimming and boogie boarding.
“Sam was always a lot of fun when we were at the lake and just really let herself loose and didn’t care what she was doing, as long as she was having fun with all of us,” said her sister, Karissa.
To Zaharis’s friend, Kelsey DeCloux, Zaharis is one of those few life long friends that people get. She thinks that Zaharis is the closest thing she has to a little sister and really cherishes this relationship
Zaharis’s best friend, Marin Westcott, and her sister Karissa both said that one of their favorite memories with Zaharis would be the cruise their families went on last winter.
It was a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico and Ocho Ricos, Jamaica. The cruise was also supposed to stop in the Cayman Islands but the water was too rough to land.
Instead, they spent all day on the boat and everyone was sunburned. There was a deck party that night on the boat. The next day they saw themselves on the cruise channel on the television dancing from the night before.
Another memory that Zaharis’s friend Marin Westcott has with her is the summer before their freshmen years at college “We were literally inseparable,” she said.
Westcott said that she practically lived with Zaharis’s family that summer. They also worked together at a grocery store, Wegmans. This grocery store is not like the ones down here in the south.
At Wegmans the employees have to wear pressed shirts and black pants. The store has an eat-in restaurant, a sushi bar, pasta bar, sub shop, pizza shop and more. They also have a daycare so parents do not have to take their kids around the store when they are shopping.
Zaharis is still employed at Wegmans and has been for the past four years, according to her, “it is the happiest place on earth.” She still works there anytime she gets a chance when she is at home.
Westcott, Zaharis’s best friend, was inseparable with Samantha and also her younger brother, Mack, the summer before her freshmen year at college. At the end of the summer Zaharis’s brother passed away in a car accident at the age of 16.
“It was a huge loss to her family and myself, but also to our entire town. I have never seen someone deal with something in such a strong and admirable way as Sam did,” said Westcott.
Zaharis was the first one to hear of her brother’s accident. She was making an English muffin at her house and heard a message on the answering machine saying that there was an accident.
According to Westcott, Zaharis did almost all of the planning for the funeral arrangement. “She was making sure everyone else was okay when in reality it was her biggest loss,” said Westcott.
Zaharis and her brother we only 15 months apart in age and had a close relationship.
“The first day of school, two years in a row, we both came downstairs with the same color shirts on. We always laughed about that,” said Zaharis.
Zaharis has no problem talking about her brother’s death. She has spoken with high school classes on safe driving and how it affects people’s lives.
Her friend, Marin Westcott said, “Sam is strong. She has been through a lot, she has put up with a lot and she has overcome a lot. She is by far the strongest person I know.”
Filed under: Classmate Profiles, Spring 2008