If you’re a current Endicott student-athlete and balancing school work, internship, practice, and games, you’re probably wondering what your post-graduation life will be like and if all the hard work you’re putting now is going to be worth it. Maybe you’re a prospective student-athlete in high school and thinking about whether Endicott is the right place for you or maybe you’re an alumnus of the College interested to find out what classmates are up to. Whatever your angle is, we’ve got insight into the whereabouts and happenings of some of our favorite Endicott student-athlete alumni.

This week, we got in touch with former Endicott women's volleyball middle blocker Samantha Lampert '01 (now Samantha Perkins) to find out the impact her four years in Beverly had on her post-graduation career. Lampert, a four-time all-conference player and CCC Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2000, was a presence both offensively and defensively for the Gulls over her four-year career. She consistently was among the team leaders in both kills and blocking. Academically, Lampert was a member of Endicott's Academic Varsity Club and the Academic All-Conference squad throughout her collegiate career. 

Lampert has stayed active in the volleyball community with coaching gigs at Endicott from 2001-04 and most recently with NEWMAC powerhouse MIT for eight seasons. Off the court, however, she has worked with some of the most influential discount-buying sites like Groupon, BuyWithMe, Studentsonly, and StudentUniverse. While her careers in both product operations and volleyball have been key pieces to what has Lampert a success in her post-Endicott life, perhaps her most important achievement is the development of family with her husband James and newborn baby Olivia. 

Find out more about Samantha Lampert from our brief question and answer session with her.

Samantha Lampert (now Perkins), B.S. in Sport Management '01 with honors
Sport: Women's Volleyball, Middle Blocker
Hometown / High School: Brentwood, N.H. / Exeter
Current Employer & Job Title: Manager of Product Operations at Groupon.com
Previous Employers & Job Titles: Operations Manager for BuyWithMe.com, Studentsonly.com, StudentUniverse.com - Assistant Coach for MIT Men's and Women's Volleyball - Coach for City Beach Volleyball Club

How did your major, classes, professors, and education at Endicott contribute to your post-graduation career?              

The Endicott educations that most influenced me were Dr. Nastasi and Professor Gentile.  They both found ways to push me to think harder and to be more organized.  Coach Byram taught me how to be a little more "grown-up" and how to have hard conversations with people by being prepared, professional and keeping on point.  I think that my experiences in the Sports Management major and participating on the volleyball and basketball teams have developed skills that have been able to transfer to my coaching career and working in tech start-ups.  Those jobs both require the ability to work as a team, be action-oriented, be coach-able, be willing to try new things and find ways to do whatever you can to support your "teammates".  

What internships did you participate in at Endicott?

Special Olympics-Massachusetts, the Merrimack College Athletics Department, and the University of New Hampshire Athletics Department

How did your internships at Endicott contribute to your post-graduation career?

My internships helped generate more awareness of what being out in the "real world" would be like as I did some very entry level work like photo-copying and cleaning, some exciting work (running the spot light at UNH hockey games) and some challenging work (helping put together program guides and game day programs.  The internships also helped me to understand some of the strengths I would be bringing into my post-graduation career, the weaknesses I would need to develop, and helped me identify what aspects of these potential career opportunities were most interesting to me. 

Samantha and her husband James on their wedding day in Boston

What were some of your most memorable experiences as a student-athlete at Endicott?

I loved that I had the opportunity to see the concrete in the Post Center field house being laid and the whole facility taking shape before then playing in the first match ever in the main gym!  I had the privilege of being surround by people that loved the sport of volleyball as much as I did and had some really great teammates and good times on and off the court.  I think my favorite time of year was always coming back to campus early for pre-season where everybody was participating in double sessions, were amped up for the season and the school year to start, totally exhausted but still found a way to reach out to all the new faces and lay the foundation for new friendships.

Are you still playing your sport either competitively or recreationally? If so, in what capacity?

I only recently stopped playing and coaching to spend time with my newborn.  Since graduation I have been playing sand, grass, indoor 6s and coed in local and National USAV tournaments, adult leagues, and pick up games.

Do you maintain contact with Endicott or athletic department (i.e. communication with former coach, Alumni Association, Young Alumni)? If so, how are you still involved with Endicott?

I follow the Endicott men's and women's volleyball teams on Facebook and made it to Santa Cruz to cheer on the boys when they traveled west last spring.

Do you have any additional post-graduation accomplishments you would like to highlight?

Olivia Elizabeth was born in March this year; I was married to Dr. James Perkins in Boston on a tall ship in June 2012 with quite a few Gulls in attendance.

Do you have any other comments about your experience at Endicott?

Watching the campus grow and change physically every year as well as see the academic programs strengthen makes me continue to be proud to be a Gull.  The internship experiences that I had were invaluable to learn both hard and soft skills that helped me be successful in the world of tech start-ups, an entirely different industry from my major.  Being focused on good sportsmanship and being on the volleyball team was a great way to meet lots of new people around New England (players, coaches, referees, and trainers and other support staff at the other colleges we played against).  The volleyball and basketball contacts I made helped me find my first few jobs out of college!