Giving the Gift of Education
September 29, 2009
Samantha Peters
For Samantha Peters, USM Class of 2011, the gift that she is most thankful for these days is the gift of education.
As a high school senior, Samantha explored many college options, most in-state and a few out-of-state, but she knew she wanted to stay close to her family’s Westbrook home. From the beginning Samantha knew that “affording” a college education was going to be a challenge. Her father passed away when she was a young child. A few years later her mother, a teacher, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and could no longer work. Raising two daughters on a disability income was difficult, but they “always managed to get by.”
The first college Sam received an admissions reply from was USM, and to her surprise that envelope contained the greatest gift she could imagine…
“As I opened the envelope, I noticed confetti falling out onto the floor around me. Before even looking at the letter, I looked up with a smile at my mom, who said “Well, I guess you got in!” Moments later, I pulled out the acceptance letter, along with another letter that explained the reason for the confetti: a merit scholarship. It announced that I had received the Presidential Dirigo Scholarship, awarded to first-year students, based on my SAT scores and high school GPA. At this point I realized that the other acceptance letters did not matter. I was going to attend USM, and I was very excited about my decision. Furthermore, I was excited that my hard work had earned me some much needed help in paying my college tuition.”
Today Sam is a junior Media Studies-Communication major in USM’s College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Women’s Soccer team. And in her own words, she “can’t imagine going to college anywhere else.”
