Every year, seniors at Millbrook High School nominate students in the graduating class who have been outstanding throughout their high school years. Students vote based on a senior’s impact on the community, allowing those impacts to be recognized by the rest of the school. These seniors can also be nominated due to a multitude of reasons such as merit and athletics. These students get the special title of Outstanding Senior.
Among Millbrook’s Outstanding Seniors for 2025, Jorjoh Samba is one of the many hardworking, involved, and outgoing students to earn this distinguished title. In school, Samba is quite active around Millbrook and currently participates in the African Student Association, Millbrook Executive Board, lacrosse, and yearbook as her extracurriculars. According to Senior Margaret Wilson, she says, “I wasn’t surprised that Jorjoh got announced as an Outstanding Senior. She’s done so much for the school and on top of that, she’s very humorous and kind.”
Many students and staff have found Samba to be quite social in her academics and extracurriculars. Not to mention how approachable she is to others, often greeting others with a smile. Diligent can also be used to describe Jorjoh when it comes to her work in the yearbook and around campus. Since her sophomore year, she’s played lacrosse here at Millbrook and moved up to varsity last year.
Samba, when asked about who her role models are, said her parents were her biggest inspirations. She views them as very hard-working, which has rubbed off on her. She also finds herself taking characteristics from her teachers, notably Catherine Cortright, an English teacher, as well as the yearbook and newspaper adviser. Cortright has been teaching and mentoring Samba for three years, where Cortright has learned that Jorjoh has an ability many students struggle to demonstrate. Cortright said, “She is outgoing and involved in a lot of organizations at Millbrook, but never spreads herself too thin or is unable to follow through on what she has promised.” Samba credits Cortright with influencing her organizational skills.
Samba has impacted the way Millbrook’s campus communicates, allowing for a more open environment. When Cortright was asked about Jorjoh’s personality and first impression, she described Samba as “outgoing and involved” and a “lovely person” overall. Cortright has said that Jorjoh is deserving of Outstanding Senior because of her way of engagement, where Samba has proved to happily engage with all students with kindness.
After high school, Samba has committed to attending East Carolina University (ECU) in Greenville, North Carolina. Samba stated, “I’m definitely staying in state for college, but I don’t know what I’m doing after that. I’ll go wherever the wind takes me.” She plans to major in social work and pursue a master’s degree through ECU’s accelerated master’s program. After college, Jorjoh hopes to pursue a career in clinical mental health, with an inclination toward being a therapist.
When asked if she had any advice for upcoming seniors and juniors, Samba stated, “Don’t procrastinate all your college stuff because it’s just gonna come back and bite you, and it’s just not worth having that stress fall this far into the year.” Additionally, Samba has also encouraged rising seniors to just soak in the fact that they’re in high school and not just breeze through the year. After all, these are the four most important years of your life; even if it might suck at times.
With that in mind, congratulations to Jorjoh Samba for being awarded this title. Her contributions to Millbrook’s yearbook and lacrosse have certainly earned her the honor of being an Outstanding Senior and will leave a lasting impact on Millbrook. Best of luck to Samba and her future endeavors.
