Sam Briggs is not the typical college student. After a long day of class, clubs, and dining hall meet ups she does not share the same luxury most students share of being able to call home to Mom to recap a long day.
“I remember it vividly,” says Sam. It was a typical September day, and after getting home from school she sat down with her Mom, Ellen Briggs, and Dad. Earlier that day, her parents sat down with the doctors and her Mom had decided to stop receiving treatment or taking medication. As Sam explained, this meant her mom would be slowly digressing due to her cancer.
Sam helped family friends take care of her Mom, in addition to the excitement of senior year: applying to college, running her high school’s year book, keeping up grades and maintaining a vibrant social life. “It was a lot, I’m not going to lie. I don’t know how I did it to be completely honest. I think the biggest thing I had was my school and my support.”
Her support system at home was strong, but even before reaching Elon she knew she would find support here as well. Elon administrators called Sam to offer their own condolences the day after her Mother’s passing, “It was crazy to think that a school I hadn’t even gotten in to yet cared so much about me already to call and say they were thinking of my family.”
On the toughest days in college though Sam knows she has her Mom’s old friends and her Dad to rely on. Ellen’s friends, or the self-proclaimed angels, still check in on Sam at college. One friend even created a photo book for Sam.
“It’s called Ellen Goes to College. It’s a bunch of horrendously bad pictures of my mom in college. She was a little crazy in college so it’s nice to look at her memories,” laughs Sam. “I love looking at it and to just think about her and what she was doing when she was in my shoes.” Â
The best support though, is her dad. “My dad is my best friend. We have such a good relationship. He’s funny – he knows how to cheer me up saying the dumbest things.”
Throughout it all, Sam is able to maintain her strong spirit and radiant positivity, which she attributes to her mother. “I just don’t know how else to be about it. My mom always said why would you be unhappy when you could be happy.”
Sam radiates positivity, happiness and lives life to the fullest. She attributes this personality and inspiration to her mom’s guidance and example. “I want to be like her. That’s my aspiration in life is to be a mom, and to have the strength that she does.”Â
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