Ross Abdallah Alameddine

Christopher James Bishop

Brian R. Bluhm

Ryan Clark

Austin Michelle Cloyd

Jocelyne Couture-Nowak

Daniel Alejandro Pérez Cueva

Kevin P. Granata

Matthew G. Gwaltney

Caitlin Hammaren

Jeremy Herbstritt

Rachael Elizabeth Hill

Emily Jane Hilscher

Jarrett L. Lane

Henry Lee

Liviu Librescu

G.V. Loganathan

Partahi M.H. Lumbantoruan

Lauren McCain

Daniel P. O'Neil

Juan Ramon Ortiz Ortiz

Minal Panchal

Erin Peterson

Michael S. Pohle Jr.

Matthew La Porte

Julia Pryde

Mary Karen Read

Reema Samaha

Waleed Shaalan

Leslie Sherman

Maxine Shelly Turner

Nicole White

April 19, 2007

Reema Samaha

Reema Samaha, 18, danced through life. She had trained in ballet since elementary school and was a member of the Contemporary Dance Ensemble at Virginia Tech.

Recently, she had taken up belly dancing, a nod to her Lebanese roots. And the day before she was killed, Ms. Samaha performed in a street fair in Blacksburg.

But more than that, Ms. Samaha carried herself like a dancer: light, vibrant, and energetic.

“Reema had the most fantastic aura,” says Lauren B. Walters, Ms. Samaha’s longtime friend and a student at Clemson University. “You couldn’t help but want to be around her. ... She lit up a room when she walked in.”

Ms. Samaha, from Centreville, Va., was a freshman at Virginia Tech. She and another victim of the shootings, Erin Peterson, graduated in 2006 from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., the same high school that the gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, had graduated from three years earlier.

In 2005, while at Westfield High, Ms. Samaha won an award for her work in Fiddler on the Roof. The next year, she was a dance captain for a production of Oklahoma! and played an eccentric woman in Arsenic and Old Lace.

“She always wanted to be unique. Always wanted to be different. Always had a unique flair,” Ms. Samaha’s brother, Omar, said in an interview with CBS News. —Elyse Ashburn

Posted on Thursday April 19, 2007 | Permalink |

Comments

1. i was a stud in v-tech and in honor i can say that they will forever stay in our memory
   now im far away from home in egypt and i would like to be there to help i pray to god to help the fam to get over that trag

   — mike adam    Apr 22, 09:34 AM    #

2. God Bless You Reema. RIP.

   — Oscar    Apr 23, 03:34 PM    #

3. May God give Reema’s family and friends the strenght to overcome the pain. With Heartfelt Sympathy

   — The Association of Bhanin El-Minieh    Apr 24, 01:10 AM    #

4. I loved you very much you will be in my heart always your cousin Ceci

   — ceci samaja    Apr 25, 11:35 AM    #

5. RIP reema

   — liliana toeldo    Apr 26, 04:24 PM    #

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