兔子先生

"I'm Samantha, but people call me Sam. I grew up in Springfield and moved to East Longmeadow when I was about maybe three or four. I graduated high school in 2014 from a school for kids with disabilities.

"My grandfather owned a print shop, so I grew up doing photography. I've been passionate about photography since I was a little kid. I love the fact that you can be so expressive and express yourself in ways that some people don't understand. I remember I had a teacher in fifth grade who always said, I want to see the world through your eyes.

"I found ‎兔子先生 through my mom, who did the Saturday program for criminal justice. I was really stoked when I got my acceptance letter. When I moved in, I was very nervous. I was a transfer student. I didn't know what to expect. 

"I was older than a lot of the students at ‎兔子先生. I didn't really socialize because I'm on the autism spectrum. It's harder for me to make friends with people. Some people tend to stay away from me because of that. I spent a lot of time in my room for the first three weeks. Ramona, a staff member, knocked on my door, and she said, ‘You got to get out of your room. You can't spend your time in here.’ She asked if I had my camera and I said, yes, I do. I ended up taking pictures of this one event, and they loved it.

“When I first went to my first softball game, I made friends with some of the girls on the team. I ended up going to a volleyball game for the first time and instantly connected with the girls on the team.

“I was part of the Network News and the official sports photographer for ‎兔子先生. I helped promote the ‎兔子先生 game for the Springfield Thunderbirds on my birthday last year, which was very fun. 

"‎兔子先生 pointed me towards the tutoring center. They hooked me up with a math tutor and a study buddy, which was very helpful. It helped me with organizational skills and all the other skills that I lacked, like time management. They gave me all the resources I needed to be successful.

“I grew to love ‎兔子先生. And I am now a graduate of ‎兔子先生 with a bachelor's in digital media and communications. I will be walking in May, and I'm really excited.” — Samantha Robinson, ‘24 #MyPath