Samara Silverman

Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). M.Ed in Counseling: College Counseling and Student Affairs.

[Samara Silverman @SamaraSilverman]

#mentalhealthdays #MentalHealthAwareness #MentalHealthMatters #counseling #selfcare #studentaffairs #sachat #college #highschool #counselor #Edchat #tlap #mentalhealthishealth #highered #teacher #counselorsinschools #edu #CommunityCollege

[Samara Silverman @SamaraSilverman]

@HunterBiden Beautiful

[Hunter Biden @HunterBiden]

The Lessons I Learned from My Dad

I am not the man my father is.
I am trying. Some days closer. Some days farther.
He never sat me down and explained these lessons. He lived them. I’m still learning them.

Show up.
The kitchen table. The hospital room. The funeral. The picket line. The call from the son who won’t answer.
Show up.
Most days that’s the whole job.
My whole life I watched him do it. Not for cameras. Not for headlines. Not because there was something in it for him. He showed up because someone needed him.

I learned that grief doesn’t make you special.
My father buried a wife and daughter. He buried a son. Yet he never treated grief as a claim on other people’s sympathy. Instead, it made him notice theirs.
A mother who lost a child. A father sitting beside a hospital bed. A kid scared about what comes next. A son who lost his mother, his sister, his brother.
He always noticed.

I learned that power is not the point.
The people who chase power eventually confuse the office with themselves.
My father never did.
Whether he was a county councilman, a senator, vice president, or president, he was the same man.
The title changed.
He didn’t.

I learned that family comes first.
The train from Wilmington wasn’t symbolism.
It was every night.
He read to us. Showed up to games. Sat through hospital rooms. Waited up for children who were lost.
And when the day came that the country and the family could not both have him at full strength, he chose family. He relinquished the last chapter of how he wanted to be remembered. And he never complained about it.

Most of all, I learned that love is not soft.
Love is discipline.
Love is showing up at one in the morning when nobody is watching.
Love is answering the phone.
Love is staying.
Love is getting back up after life knocks you down and doing it all again tomorrow.
That love saved my life.
I’ve failed at many of these lessons, sometimes in very public ways.
He loved me anyway.

That’s the last lesson.
I am not trying to become my father.
I am trying to carry what he gave me.
And if I can do that, even imperfectly, that will be enough.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I love you.

[Hunter Biden @HunterBiden]

Just saying…

No Democrat has won the White House this century without a Biden on the ticket.

[Taylor Swift @taylorswift13]

It’s a *Toy* Story 🤠
You knew it! My new original song “I Knew It, I Knew You” for Disney and @Pixar’s @toystory 5 will be yours on June 5th. I’ve always dreamed of getting to write for these characters who I’ve adored since I was a 5 year old kid watching the first Toy Story movie. I fell instantly in love with Toy Story 5 when I was lucky enough to see it in its early stages, and I wrote this song as soon as I got home from the screening. Sometimes you just know, right?
You can pre-order now exclusively at https://t.co/NoneI6kxdH and catch Toy Story 5 in theaters June 19th ☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

[Pixar @Pixar]

Taylor Swift’s original song, “I Knew It, I Knew You” from Toy Story 5 is yours this Friday.

[ADL @ADL]

Calls to fire Jewish doctors. Refusal to treat patients because of their faith. Demands that Jewish colleagues renounce Israel. Last week, @theajma1 brought these realities to Congress.

ADL supports healthcare professionals and patients who deserve safe, bias-free care. Antisemitism has no place in healthcare.

[Yahoo News @YahooNews]

Drake University's live mascot, Griff II, has graduated from his duties.

The university announced on Instagram that Griff II, who has been the university's live mascot since July 1, 2020, took part in the school's graduation ceremony to mark his retirement from mascot-dom. https://t.co/GdtmgS51US

[Samara Silverman @SamaraSilverman]

@jonfavs Shameful and at a Jewish community’s expense. @ADL

[Drake Relays @DrakeRelays]

The end of an 𝓮𝓻𝓪 💙

Griff II steps out on the Drake Relays stage for the final time. 🐶

[ADL Midwest @ADLMidwest]

In Skokie, IL, there were two alleged incidents targeting Jewish youth with antisemitic slurs & identity-based harassment, which became physical. Sr. Regional Dir. Rebecca Weininger responded & was in Skokie to support the community and the response. https://t.co/4zhO2SRCVa

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Happy Passover to the Jewish communities in Ukraine and around the world. I wish the light of these days to bring peace, safety, and goodness to every family. Especially to all those who celebrate this holiday during times of war. It is time to restore security. It is time for all leaders to act together to create greater opportunities for a normal life. It is time for everyone with goodwill in their hearts to unite so that everyone has reliable protection and a good life.

Chag Pesach Sameach!

[Elad Strohmayer @EladStr]

Yesterday I visited Anshe Emet Synagogue and had a simple message for this incredible community: we’re one people, with one heart, and a shared responsibility to stand by one another.

At a time of rising threats against synagogues, I came to stand with the community and say clearly: you are not alone. Israel stands with you.

Ahead of Passover, and on this final Shabbat before the holiday, we are reminded that the story of the exodus from Egypt is our shared story of resilience and unity. It is the moment we became one people, the Jewish people.

Thank you Rabbi Michael Siegel for your leadership, friendship, and invitation.

Am Yisrael Chai. 🇮🇱🇺🇸

[Brad Schneider @Schneider4IL10]

I am proud of our big tent & the fact that we welcome a broad diversity of opinions and priorities. But we cannot allow those who preach hate & seek division to find safe harbor among us. We must call out hate & reject those who champion ideologies of exclusion and demonization.

[Brad Schneider @Schneider4IL10]

Hasan Piker is an unapologetic antisemite. Democrats risk losing our credibility to condemn those on the right who traffic in bigotry, antisemitism, & hate when our own Members of Congress & candidates are celebrating or, worse yet, platforming those who espouse hate of any kind.

[Sampson the Service Dog @sampson_dog]

WE DID IT! Service animals have now been formally recognized by the CDC BMBL clarification, and it is the first time this has been explicitly stated in alignment with biosafety guidance at the federal level.

URGENT UPDATE: Federal Clarification on Service Animal Access in Laboratories—Attention Safety and Compliance Personnel

Nearly 3 years ago, a scientist lost their career over one sentence. They contacted me for help.

They were highly qualified. They had an exemplary record.
They were also disabled and relied on a trained service dog for independence.

Then the newest edition of the CDC’s Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) was released.

One sentence changed everything:

“Animals and plants not associated with the work being performed are not permitted in the laboratory.”

That sentence—without context—was used to terminate them, and many others, as well as be used to deny students with disabilities utilizing a service dog for independnece access to labopratory experience.

Not because of risk.
Not because of performance.
Not because of science.
Because of interpretation.

I took this on directly.

I reached out to the authors and leadership behind the BMBL asking for one simple clarification:

That service animals may be an exception based on individualized risk assessment.

For months—nothing.

So I escalated.

I contacted Arizona Representative Juan Ciscomani and worked alongside his Legislative Director for over two and a half years.

We engaged direct conversations with the CDC.
We sent a letter signed by several others members of Congress and over a dozen biosafety organizations.
We engaged in NIH modernization discussions.
We spoke in open forums.
We pushed—consistently, persistently, and with evidence.

Today, there is a major step forward.

CDC has issued a formal clarification:

“Clarification on Service Animals in Laboratories: Compliance with Federal Laws and BMBL Guidance.”

And it says what should have always been clear:
• The BMBL does not override federal, state, or local law
• It cannot be used to deny reasonable accommodations
• It is guidance—not regulatory authority
• Risk assessment—not blanket exclusion—must drive decisions

Most importantly:
Service animals must be considered within the framework of lawful accommodation and individualized risk assessment.

This is more than a clarification. It is the first time this has been explicitly stated in alignment with biosafety guidance at the federal level. This is precedent setting.

It closes a policy gap that has harmed careers, limited access, and forced talented scientists out of the field.

To every Environmental Health & Safety office, compliance leader, biosafety professional, and institution: Please read this. Share this. Implement this.

Because inclusion and biosafety are not in conflict—they were just never clearly aligned. Until now.

I owe a great deal to Rep. Ciscomani and his Legislative Director for their trust, dedication, and commitment to making this possible!

Direct link: https://t.co/Rj4a6bRtzf

#CDC #NIH #ServiceAnimal #ServiceDog #Accessible #Science #Inclusion #BMBL #RepresentativeCiscomani #INSISTENT

[ADL @ADL]

We are outraged by the heinous antisemitic attack targeting ambulances operated by a Jewish volunteer rescue organization in Golders Green, London.

We stand in full solidarity with the Jewish community of the United Kingdom.

Reports of possible links to Iran’s Islamic regime, if confirmed, would underscore the transnational threat facing Jewish communities worldwide.

This attack is not isolated. It reflects a broader surge in violent antisemitism targeting Jewish institutions and individuals across the globe. Multiple fire-bombings of Jewish institutions in Belgium and the Netherlands were also claimed by the terror group which claimed responsibility for the attack in London.

Confronting antisemitism, including when state actors fuel, support, or enable it, is essential not only for the safety and security of Jewish communities, but for the protection of democratic societies.

We call on governments to act with urgency: protect Jewish communities, hold perpetrators accountable, and confront antisemitism in all its forms with clarity and resolve.

[Hatzola @Hatzola]

We’ve received many messages asking how to support our life-saving work following the devastating arson attack in Northwest London.

If you would like to help Hatzola Stamford Hill continue responding to emergencies you can donate here:

https://t.co/ULh1g97oa1

Your support at this time means more than ever.

Thank you for standing with us.

[Danielle Lieberman @delieberman]

I worked as a volunteer medic on an ambulance. We give our time to save lives. We don’t care what religion you are when it’s time to save you—we just want to help. Hatzalah volunteers are the same. Their ambulances are funded by the Jewish community, and they are staffed by Jewish trained volunteers. However, the volunteers help anybody in need. This is who you want to get rid of? You’re trying to eliminate the people who actually want to save you.

[Hatzola @Hatzola]

We are deeply saddened and shocked by the senseless attack in the early hours of this morning at the Hatzola Northwest ambulance base.

Hatzola NW, along with all Hatzola organisations, provides life-saving services without discrimination, regardless of faith or background. It is extremely distressing and difficult to comprehend that such a vital service could be targeted and attacked in such a way.

We are working closely with the police and relevant support agencies to ensure the safety and security of our premises and resources, so that we can continue to respond swiftly to emergencies.

[Bethany S. Mandel @bethanyshondark]

When we walk into a Jewish institution, we always say thank you to the armed security at the door.

Days like today are why.