Alumni of the Week “Samantha Arce”

Samantha Arce started karate at Mountainside Martial Arts Center in early 1998. Studying karate and being
guided by strong personalities turned this once shy child into a confident, capable adult. Who knew that testing
for her black belt in 2003 would lead to another of the great passions in her life: teaching!

Samantha graduated from ASU in 2010 with her degree in early childhood education. Since then, she’s been
an elementary educator in the community. Samantha graduated with her master’s degree from the University
of Washington in 2017, with plans to pursue a doctorate in education in the future. She credits many of these
accomplishments to the incredible lessons of a lifetime spent in martial arts, and is looking forward to the many
adventures and challenges to come!