Each issue the Activist recognizes a special student, someone who demonstrates leadership or is active in organizations, has excellent grade standing, and over all, is an inspiration to his or her classmates. I am proud to offer you this issue’s feature student, Samantha Schaeffer. Sam is a 26 year old sophomore at RWC. She was born in Schenectady, New York, where she lived for ten years before moving to West Chester, Ohio. She attended Hopewell Elementary and proceeded onto Lakota High School.
After graduating, Sam went to work at an insurance firm. A couple years passed, and Sam received a surprise package, a beautiful baby girl, whom she named Madison.
“Having Maddie changed everything,” Sam said. “I now had someone that depended on me with everything, and I knew that going to college was the only way we were going to make it through life together.”
With that being said, Sam enrolled at RWC, majoring in Chemistry. “I’ve always loved labs. I love anything hands on, and chemistry has fascinated me ever since I was a little girl.”
Sam’s goal is to graduate with a bachelors degree in Chemistry and to continue on to get her Ph.D. in Forensic Chemistry. Within her second year at RWC, Sam continues to get a 3.5 grade point average.
She is on the Dean’s List, is President of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, and belongs to The National Collegiate Scholars Committee.
Sam is an inspiration to all her fellow classmates.
Instead of going out on weekends like most college students, she stays at home with her beautiful daughter, doing what she does best, being a mom.
“I don’t have a lot of time,” she says. “With being a full-time single mom, and all my school work, there is no time for anything else.”
She strives to do the best she can not just for her future, but for Maddie’s as well.
When asked if there was anything she wanted to tell all the single parents out there, she replied, “Your first priority in life should be taking care of your child. And the only way to do that to the best of your ability is going to college. Almost all young, single parents qualify for government help. There are special loans and grants for college assistance you can receive to help pay for college.
“Also, you can go to your county and ask about assistance in child care. There are ways to get to college. But you have to be very determined to want to do it.
“Every night my little girl asks me what I am doing, and I reply, my school work. I tell her I have to go to school every day and do very [well] because I want to be smart and get a good job. And she replied, ‘Mama, when do I get to go to school? I want to be smart just like you mama.’ So you’re not only helping yourself by going to college; you’re teaching your child education through example, and there is no better way than that.