Nerves were threatening to get the best of Samantha Sadoff, the 17-year-old President of Live Oak High School’s Future Business Leaders of America, as she awaited her turn in front of judges for the leadership conference’s national competition for public speaking in Chicago.
Sadoff, who bested the regional and state fields prior to the national event held June 29-July 2, was already chosen as one of 14 finalists from a field of 104 competitors representing their respective states during the preliminary round. The LOHS senior—a budding actress, accomplished filmmaker and ambitious student—was the only Californian to reach the championship round among the 8,500 “best and brightest high school students” from across the country.
“The morning of the final round I was so nervous. I barely got any sleep the night before. I didn’t eat a good breakfast. I was too nervous to even think straight,” said Sadoff, who was in a back room with the other “Step Up to the Challenge” finalists waiting for her name to be called.
Three hours went by before it was her turn to give the public speech she had practiced and performed dozens of times—modifying it here and there along the way—about what the FBLA had done for her career path. Sadoff hopes to study film in college and become a director.
“As soon as I start speaking, I get in that zone and I just came alive,” said Sadoff, who shook off the nerves and believed she had given her best performance in front of the three-judge panel. “I could tell by looking at them they were satisfied….When I was done, other students came over and congratulated me (on my speech.)”
The next day at the awards ceremony, Sadoff again waited three hours before 10 of the 14 finalists in the “public speaking two” category (for juniors and seniors) were called up on the stage. Sadoff was glad to just be in the top 10, but she got ever more excited as the judges started announcing the place-winners beginning with 10th place and working up to first.
“It was really exciting watching people getting called and receiving their awards,” said Sadoff, whose trip to Chicago was paid for by a $1,000 sponsorship from the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club. “Then, there were fewer and fewer people and I was excited to be top five, then just elated to be top three and then it was just me and one girl. Then they called her name for second place and I knew I won. It was the best moment ever.”
Chamber President John Horner said he first heard Sadoff’s speech at a Morgan Hill Unified School District school board meeting after she won the regional competition and was immediately impressed. Horner later invited her to speak before the Kiwanis Club and again scheduled her as one of the speakers at the Chamber’s August breakfast.
“What an amazing young lady,” said Horner of Sadoff. “She’s obviously a very talented young lady in a lot of different dimensions. She has the passion, the skill set and the vision for using that for positive change.”
For her public speaking prowess, Sadoff took home a glass trophy as well as $1,000 prize from her category sponsor Balfour. Participants, who qualified in any of the 68 categories, competed for a total of $175,000 in cash awards, according to FBLA event organizers.
“It was really cool,” said Sadoff, who was accompanied by her brother on the trip. “Going to Chicago in itself was exciting because I’d never been there. Getting to go and represent the entire state of California was such a huge honor.”
Earlier this year, Sadoff was named as an Honorable Mention Award recipient for her short film in the 2015 White House Student Film Festival. Sadoff, who also plans to study psychology and/or neuroscience in college, has appeared in commercials for McDonald’s and Walmart. She has also earned acting roles in “Tropic Thunder” starring Ben Stiller, Disney’s “Monsters University” and several independent films.
