Samantha Ambrico-Custer

Guide Dog Foundation students must be at least high school age before they are accepted to train with a dog because we want to ensure they are ready to handle the responsibilities of being a guide dog user; for 15-year-old Samantha Ambrico, that couldn't happen soon enough.

Training with a guide dog fulfilled a dream she had had for so long, she says. It built up her confidence and helped educate others about visual impairment and blindness. She was so happy, she reports, when she trained with her dog. "In school, I was known as the —girl with the dog,'" she laughs. Her guide dog walked across the stage with her at graduation.

Samantha has never let her blindness limit her life. She began dancing at the age of 3 because "my mom knew she needed to get me involved in some sort of physical activity. It was the perfect outlet for me to express myself." It was her love of dance and her passion for advocating for people with disabilities that set this determined young woman on her career path. She majored in dance and psychology and was overjoyed when the dance department was prepared to help her develop the tools she needed to succeed.

When Samantha graduated college, Laurel once again walked across the commencement stage with her. Today, she is a disability and inclusion consultant for a school district and teaches dance to children with Down syndrome. And when she got married, her guide dog once again accompanied her and her new husband down the aisle.

When her guide dog Lauren retired from active service, Samantha returned to the Guide Dog Foundation for her new guide dog.