Popular Categories

Error, group does not exist! Check your syntax! (ID: 21)

Milk lands student of the year award




Samantha Milk and her daughter, Kili.

Samantha Milk and her daughter, Kili.

LAWRENCE, Kan.. –– Haskell Indian Nations University student of the year award went to a single mother who became pregnant between her sophomore and junior years. She also happens to work part time for the government as a hydrographer—all while in school full-time.

An environmental science major, Samantha Milk—who goes by Sami—has a pretty heavy class load before her graduation this spring.

“I’m taking Physics II, Organic Chemistry, Wetland Ecosystems, Aquatic Biology, and I’m doing undergrad research with the environmental management system,” Milk said.

Her day typically starts around 5 a.m. She’ll finish any remaining homework and clean up.

“I can be free for a little bit,” she said. “And then I get everything ready.”

Then she’ll wake up her two-year-old daughter, Kili, get her ready and take her to daycare.

Milk says the time it takes to travel makes things harder. She lives closer to her school, which is where she drops her daughter off. Then she heads across town to work for a few hours. And then Monday, Wednesday and Friday she’s in class until she goes back to work.

“And then go back to class. Like it’s crazy. But that’s my typical day.”

Milk says the award came at the perfect time, because she was starting to feel worn down. She received a lot of encouragement after hearing the news.

“I really needed that to like boost me back up,” she said.

Sami Milk became pregnant in 2014—when she was 23. Even though it was a surprise, and she’s been raising Kili by herself, she’s been a straight-A student since discovering her pregnancy.

“All the credit goes to my daughter,” Milk said, “because she’s like my driving factor.”

Milk says between financial aid and academic scholarships, her education is one less bill she has to worry about.

“It’s helped because like, being able to pay rent, pay my bills, everything I wouldn’t be able to do if it wasn’t for scholarships,” she said.

Last semester, Milk became Haskell’s first recipient of the Spirit Sovereignty Scholarship.

She credits her success to her parents. When she was young her father landed in prison for a short time.

“But he was an amazing dad,” Milk said, adding he would write often and pay them for good grades.

Her mother moved the family to Lawrence in 1997—and as a single mother, she went back to school.

“Man, she’s a beast,” Milk said. “I don’t know, I think it’s like a great motivator because anytime I’m thinking like, ‘It’s hard,’ I’m like, okay—she had four kids, she was working fulltime, and she got her doctorate degree before a lot of her teachers finished their PhD.”

Still, Milk says, it hasn’t been easy. She says the biggest challenge is having energy for her daughter at the end of a long day

“If I’m not physically exhausted I’m mentally exhausted,” Milk said.

But she says things will soon get better. Milk graduates this May and will work full time at the same job that she currently gives 16 hours a week to.

Milk works for The United States Geological Survey. As a hydrographer, she measures water levels with graphs

“My schedule daily is demanding but to be able to come to a job that I love, and then to go to classes and like love a lot of my teachers— it’s made it easier,” she said.

Milk says she wants the other young women in her family—and females everywhere—to feel empowered by her story.

“You know, I’m not down here having the high life,” she said. “It’s been tough. And I just want more people to know you can do it.”


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.