CHECK OUT WHAT PAST SAMMY AWARD WINNERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE

Winning the SAMMY Award has sent me into Dartmouth feeling prepared to take on whatever challenges were sent my way. It really gave me confidence in my abilities to live a balanced healthy lifestyle, which is sometimes hard in the whirlwind that is college.

-JP Gorham, 2008 SAMMY Award winner

The SAMMY Awards was the best possible way to end high school. After years of working on the tennis court, in the classroom, and in the community, the SAMMY Awards put together easily one of the best weekends of my life. The people were incredible. I still keep in touch with Michelle Kwan and I know that I have lifelong friends in the other twenty-four student-athletes, two of which I eat breakfast with almost daily here at Stanford. I remember each and every moment and I only wish the weekend didn't fly by so quickly.

-Sheel Tyle, 2008 SAMMY Award winner

Winning the SAMMY Award was seeing my dreams come into fruition. Those tough years of dedication to school, sports, and community had paid off- a hundredfold. It was an honor not only for me, but also for my parents, my coaches, and my teachers. Simply the chance to represent my state and my school was an occurrence I am not soon to forget.

Hands down, the most surreal moment was seeing the man next to me in the airplane read the full-page spread in USA Today with my photo on it. I got out my pen, swallowed, and offered my signature.

The weekend I spent in Florida with the Got Milk and USA Today crews, along with the other winners and their families, Michelle Kwan, Ginger Gadsen, and Avery Johnson was absolutely phenomenal. To meet your childhood role models is a humbling yet inspirational experience. Unforgettable, to say the least.

-Liz Sutton, 2008 SAMMY Award winner

SAMMY was the highlight of my senior year! All of the winners are so well deserving of the award and the weekend in Orlando was unforgettable! Every day I see wonderful "got milk?" posters that decorate my dorm room too! SAMMY is dramatically changing the lives of student-athletes across the nation!

-Bri Beemer, 2008 SAMMY Award winner

SAMMY is able to bring together people who come from different areas and backgrounds but who share similar values and ambitions. That, for me, was the most meaningful part of the SAMMY weekend and is the reason I have kept in touch with many of the 2007 SAMMY winners. To be surrounded by people who have the same desire to excel academically, challenge themselves athletically, who understand what it means to be part of a team, and who see the importance of giving back and helping others is such an empowering experience.

-Carly Potock, 2007 SAMMY Award winner