As a teenager, Harlan native Samantha Lewis’ education goals were pretty basic.
“No one in my family had ever been to college,” she said. “So, my parents really just encouraged me to get through high school.”
Though her plans were small, a dream tucked away in the back of her mind was a bit bigger.
“I had always kind of wanted to be a nurse,” Lewis said. “I took the ACT once in high school, but I didn’t do very well. I had a lot of self-doubt, so I didn’t think I’d get accepted into college.”
The fear of failure held her back from trying nursing school, but she thought maybe a career in medical assisting was possible.
Lewis was a married mother of one, expecting a second when she enrolled at the Harlan campus of Southeast Community and Technical College.
“I took my finals the day before my C-section,” she recalled with a laugh.
And though graduation typically means leaving school behind, Lewis decided to keep going… and going.
Between 2018 and 2024, Lewis added four more diplomas – and a third baby – to her list of accomplishments.
After completing her medical assisting training, she immediately enrolled in LPN school, fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming a nurse.
“It was exciting to finally start work as a nurse,” she said, of her first job as on the med surge floor at Harlan ARH Hospital. “But I knew I really wanted to become an RN.”
Lewis finished her associate’s degree in nursing in 2020, began working as a night shift clinical nurse manager, and immediately jumped into a bachelor’s program.
“There were times I would get out off work in the morning and drive straight to school, come home and sleep a few hours and go right back to work,” she recalled. “It was definitely a lot sometimes.”
“A lot,” but not enough to deter her from reaching for more, as she enrolled in graduate school immediately after finishing her BSN in 2022.
All of her degrees came with a bit of struggle, but Lewis said her master’s degree was a bit more difficult than the others.
Her degree was in jeopardy when, pregnant with her third child, she suffered a subchorionic hemorrhage in the 12th week of her pregnancy, forcing her to miss a mandatory on-campus visit.
“But I was able to explain to them what was going on and ask if there was anything I could do to graduate on time,” she said.
Though not the way she would have preferred it to happen, Lewis said the situation gave her the opportunity to move from a nurse practitioner track to general MSN studies.
“I knew by then I didn’t want to be a nurse practitioner, so it worked out better,” she said.
She suffered another setback, however, when her grandfather passed away.
“He was a profound source of support and inspiration throughout my life,” she said. “I really struggled and almost dropped out, but in moments of grief and doubt, the memory of his unwavering encouragement propelled me to continue my studies, knowing that he would have wanted me to persevere.”
And just as it happened seven years earlier, Lewis again gave birth just before graduation.
Though now the proud holder of four more degrees than she ever thought possible, Lewis is not yet done, as she is on track to graduate with a doctorate in nursing in 2026.
“I love nursing, but I’m hoping to work in hospital leadership administration one day,” she said. “I think this will help prepare me as it will make me more knowledgeable in health policy. Also, learning informatics is helping me now in the position I’m in as house nurse coordinator.”
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Not much and absolutely everything has changed for Lewis over the past several years.
Her family has grown, her titles have changed, and her diplomas have multiplied, yet she stays on the same schedule, still at Harlan ARH Hospital.
“Everyone at the hospital has been very supportive,” she said, adding the ARH Tuition Reimbursement Program has also been a help.
Lewis, who has never lived anywhere but Harlan, said she believes she’s exactly where she needs to be.
“This is home,” she said. “I like that it’s a small town. I feel comfortable here. Everybody kind of knows everybody. That’s important.”
Lewis was recently named the recipient of ARH’s monthly EDcellence Award, a system-wide recognition of employees who exemplify excellence in education and personal development.
She said she was honored to receive the award as it “makes you feel like your hard work is noticed.”
More importantly, however, she said it is another way to show her children that anything is possible.
“My girls say they ‘want to be like mommy when they grow up,’” she said. “They might not always want to be nurses, but I want them to see they can do anything they want. I don’t want them to just aim for high school.
“I want to show them they can meet their goals and know that big things are possible.”
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Lewis resides in Harlan with her husband William, daughters Adrianne and Brooklyn, and son Braxton.
