Samantha Hamawi was driving from Las Vegas to Bend in May of 2020, when she decided to overnight in Klamath Falls.
“When I woke up in the morning, I took a walk along the lake, went for a cup of coffee and something just felt right. I decided that this is the place I want to stay,” she said.
Hamawi, 26, always wanted to go to college, but never had the chance. She barely was able to finish high school and didn’t have enough course completions to get into a college.
She worked as a bartender along the Las Vegas strip, and took a similar job in Klamath Falls while she weighed
her options.
“After living here for a couple of months I decided to go back to school and I applied for a job at the Klamath Community College (KCC) bookstore, where I met Carly Gilder. She has been such an encouragement from Day 1 and has become a good friend over the years.”
Hamawi was in an unhealthy marriage when she moved here and was a bit adrift. With the encouragement of others, she decided to stay in Klamath Falls after the marriage had come to an end and continue to pursue her education.
“A lot of times I almost quit and went back home,” she said. “Being blessed with the support system I have, in what was once a strange town, it kept me here. It made this town a home for me.”
After working at the bookstore for about a year, Hamawi was offered a position at the YMCA’s preschool. She continued working at the bookstore, as well.
When she enrolled at KCC, she first thought she’d try environmental engineering. But her work at the Y changed her mind.
“I wasn’t too sure that I wanted to work with children, being the oldest of seven kids myself,” she laughed. “But after the first day at the Y, I was head over heels about the work.” And she continued to work there until her student teaching experience began in fall of 2023.
KCC is in a partnership with Southern Oregon University (SOU) that allows students to work towards a four-year teacher’s degree remotely from Klamath Falls. One can get an Early Childhood Education and Associate of Applied Science degree from KCC in two years, and if they choose, a four-year bachelor’s degree under the SOU partnership.
Hamawi transitioned into the teaching program and has been dual enrolled at KCC and SOU for the last three years. She plans to graduate with a bachelor’s and associate in teaching for kindergarten through sixth grade. She’s currently student teaching at Roosevelt Elementary School in Klamath Falls and has accepted a fourth-grade teaching position at Mills Elementary starting in the fall.
Her success was not without a lot of hard work. There were many times she needed the encouragement of others to continue.
“For several months I was couch surfing while going to school. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it. My family asked me to come back to Las Vegas, and continuously reassured me that it was ok to come home.”
Bookstore manager Gilder, noted that Hamawi’s previous life is not that unusual for many women in an abusive relationship.
“It takes a lot of perseverance to get oneself out of that,” she said. “When things were getting difficult, I just helped her talk it out; take one step at a time.”
Samantha and Carly still keep in touch. It points to how the college strives to support its students and ensure their success in the community.
“For me, being a perfect stranger, Carly was the pillar of my support system for a long time. It was weird how that worked out. She is super integral in keeping me on track. She has such heart. She just wants to help young adults.”
Peggy Bullock, Education Program Lead and faculty, was also part of Samantha’s support team. Bullock is the advisor for all students who transfer to SOU’s teacher preparation program, the one that Hamawi is finishing. She helped create the satellite program in 2015.
“I’ve known Sam as she’s made her way through our program,” Bullock said. “She has overcome a very difficult personal situation with her ex-husband that included violence, but through it all she has maintained her grades, kept up with her work at a high-achieving level, and has kept her focus on becoming a teacher. I’m so very proud of how hard she’s worked and that she will instill that same level of perseverance, tenacity, and grit into her future students.
“Peggy was very understanding as to what I was going through,” Hamawi said. At one point, I had moved seven times in one year; bouncing around from couch to couch. I had to wonder, ‘what am I doing?’”
Then, Samantha’s father came down with COVID-19 and she had to make trips between Klamath and Las Vegas. Bullock helped her through it, she said.
Hamawi worked as a preschool aid, a co-teacher to a licensed teacher, at the YMCA. Then transitioned to after school programs and summer camp aide. The teacher licensing program requires a minimum of 600 hours in service, unpaid.
Initially, she paid for her KCC tuition out of pocket. Then she started receiving financial aid and last year, she received her first set of grants. This year, all her schooling has been paid by scholarships and grants. She was accepted into Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society for community colleges, and that gave her more access to financial aid. She’s also a member of Kappa Delta Phi, the honor society for universities, and hopes to pursue a master’s degree.
“From the journey I think, more than anything, I have a grateful heart. To God for seeing me through every high and low, my support system and newfound family, the teachers who have welcomed me into their classrooms, and the principal at Mills for taking a chance on me. How could you be anything but grateful with so much unexpected love and grace? If people could just know how much they can offer the world.
“I hope I can encourage someone else to keep going, to keep pushing. Never give up.”
Samantha will be walking across the stage at KCC on June 14 to receive her certificate.
For more information about KCC and its programs, visit www.klamathcc.edu.