Every student has a different story to tell. There are stories about love, hope and tragedy. There are stories about surviving the worst cases society has yet to offer. There are even stories about what the future may hold. But one of those unique stories belongs to senior Samantha Miller.

“I had Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” Samantha Miller said. According to the University of Maryland’s medical school website, Hodgkin’s cancer affects the immune system. Some side effects are fatigue, fever, loss of appetite, swollen lymph nodes, weight loss and shortness of breath.  The survival rate  is small if  the sickness is not cured immediately. It is found commonly in people between the ages 15 to 40 and more often found in males than in females. After treatment, the survivor must avoid crowds during flu and cold seasons, boil tap water in order to drink it, avoid being around real flowers and eat only well-cooked meals (no raw fruits and vegetables). These are the struggles Samantha faces. Treatment consists of chemotherapy and radiation. Those that have relapsed Hodgkin’s must have stem cell transplants. Also, females who have had radiation treatment on their chests have a greater risk of breast cancer.

Samantha said,”I thought it wasn’t going to be as sickening as people say. It was hard when I got sick. It was hard trying not to get sick. Some side effects of my medicines were dizziness, fatigue, and hair loss. And losing my hair was one of the harder parts to face.” Samantha was diagnosed on July 4, 2010. She said, “When I was first told, I just knew my blood results would be bad. And when I got the results, that’s when I lost hope.”

She said, “When people found out I was sick, they started to treat me differently. Popular kids want to be my friend. Some of my friends stayed friends with me and became more supportive. Other friends stopped talking to me or stopped being friends with me.”

She said, “Every day I had feelings of sadness, anger and frustration, but mostly doubt. I didn’t know if I was going to get through it.” She said, “I had wished I had eaten healthier, exercised more and made more reliable friends.”Samantha had to be home schooled for a while to prevent her from catching illnesses from other students.

Friends and family can help cancer survivors move on or even help participate in giving them hope. Many doctors who help try to cure cancer have found that their patients have lost the will to live or lost hope. Without friends and family, it is more likely the patients will give up on themselves.

Samantha said, “At the beginning of my sickness, I was starting to lose hope. I had felt like there was no hope at all. That there was no such thing as hope. I was beginning to think that. There were times I had felt like giving up. I thought I wasn’t going to make it once I heard about the survival rate. I had thought, ‘What’s the point of trying? What’s the point of suffering?’ But then towards the end, my hope kicked back in. After my sickness, I became more positive. Once I believed I could make it through, I believed in hope.” She said what helped give her hope were her friends.

Samantha said, “My friends were there for me a lot. My friends would ask about me and ask if I was okay if I wasn’t at school. They would ask if I needed anything once I had been taken out of school to be home schooled. There was always someone who was there for me.”

She said, “I loved when people visited me. I liked roaming the hospital with my machine and be able to do things without being stuck inside my room. I loved when my child care specialist came and played games and did crafts with me.”

Samantha no longer has Hodgkin’s. She said, “I want people to know that cancer is a very serious disease. It’s not funny to make jokes about it. It’s something someone can die from. People need to be more aware about it. I want the students of McIntosh to be there for someone who is sick. Be a friend for them. And that you never know someone else’s story.” She said, “For those of you that are sick, always try to look on the brighter side of life. Not all days are bad days. You’ll have both bad days and good days. Just know that things will eventually get better.” She said, “Coming out of my sickness, I felt like I had become a better person and felt like I was more educated on serious matters.”

Samantha said, “I can get through anything as long as I keep my head up and stay positive. If I do anything to the best of my ability, I can get through it.”

Samantha said, “You never know someone else’s story.” A story of surviving the toughest things life can throw is truly an amazing story. Samantha Miller may be an ordinary girl to others, but she is a girl who felt like giving up. She had once lost all hope. But she kept her head held high and stayed positive no matter how much pain she was in.