Blue and Green

by Jill Duff-Hoppes

For Samantha Allen, this summer was all about exploring her roots.

The teen’s journey of self-discovery took her from a Jewish youth camp in North Carolina to a cultural-immersion program in Ireland.

A senior at Winter Springs High School, Samantha is Irish on her father’s side and Jewish on her mother’s side. She has always been entrenched in Judaism, but recently, Samantha decided an exploration of her Irish ancestry was overdue.

“I realized that I didn’t really involve myself with my dad’s heritage, and I needed to be connected to my Irish ancestry in some way,” the 17-year-old says.

Samantha’s father, Paul, moved to America from The Emerald Isle when he was 21. He has maintained strong ties to his homeland, particularly through his love of Gaelic sports.

Samantha’s sisters have both connected to their father’s heritage through Irish step dancing. But, the Riverdance-style footwork didn’t appeal to Samantha. Instead, she found another way to embrace her Irishness. In May 2018, Samantha won Florida’s Junior Rose of Tralee pageant. Participants must be between the ages of 13 and 17 and of Irish heritage, or they must have connections with Irish culture.

The junior pageant is a younger version of the Rose of Tralee contest in Ireland for young women ages 18 to 28. The Rose of Tralee competition – which is celebrating its 60th year – is akin to the Miss America pageant, Samantha says, albeit not as glitzy. As Florida’s junior winner, Samantha received a two-week, all-expenses-paid trip to the Celtic Irish American Academy in Galway, Ireland. Instead of going last year right after her win, she was allowed to defer the trip for a year.

But before heading to Ireland this summer, Samantha had another trip to make. She spent a month-and-a-half at Camp Judaea in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where she worked as a lifeguard and counselor-in-training. When the Israel-centered camp was over, Samantha returned home for a few days before embarking on her first adventure overseas. The academy she attended in Ireland is an international summer school for American, Canadian, and European high schoolers. Students stay with host families and delve into their Irish heritage through classes, tours, sports, and volunteering. Samantha’s host family made her feel right at home.

“They were wonderful. They treated me like I was their granddaughter,” she says. “I felt like I was on a trip with                    my grandparents.”

Highlights of Samantha’s time in Ireland included hiking along the Cliffs of Moher, getting a crash course in Irish literature, and learning a little Gaelic. She kept up with the Irish accents pretty well, thanks to the years she has spent listening to her father’s own heavy accent.

“Nobody understands my dad when he talks,” Samantha jokes, adding that she got teased about her American accent while in Ireland.

Now that she’s back home, Samantha is focused on her senior year of high school. She is on the varsity cheer and competitive cheer squads at Winter Springs High and is the football team manager. The always-busy teen is also a Pop Warner cheerleading coach. Samantha is active in Jewish groups, too. She is copresident of her school’s Jewish Student Union, which she helped found. And, she’s involved with local chapters of the Jewish teen organizations BBYO and United Synagogue Youth.

Samantha’s parents, Paul and Cheryl, are proud of their daughter’s accomplishments and the interest she shows in her heritage.

“We’re raising the children Jewish, so we’re very immersed in the Jewish religion and culture,” Cheryl says. “But, my husband is just as important in our family, so I want all the children to be exposed to his culture, too.”

Paul adds, “I like history a lot, and I think everyone should know where they come from, so they know who they are going forward.”

Samantha’s deep dive into her ancestry shows no signs of slowing down. After high-school graduation, she wants to take a gap year before starting college. During her year off, Samantha plans to enroll in a study-abroad program in Israel run by Young Judaea, a Zionist youth movement. Participants take classes for college credit, study Hebrew, intern or volunteer, and travel. And, a return to Ireland one day is also a possibility.

“I would like to go back with friends or family and do more exploring,” Samantha says. “It was a good experience. I definitely feel more connected to my dad and his side of the family now.”