By Ron Miller
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Towson University senior exercise science major Sam Padham sits on his beige leather couch scrolling vigorously through the university’s graduation checklist webpage. He stretches his legs and props them up on the coffee table in front of him, carelessly kicking aside empty bags of Lays potato chips and hollow cans of Red Bull.
“Everyone wants to give me extra congratulations because of what I’ve been through to get to this point,” Padham said. “But honestly, I just get the most satisfaction out of being able to call myself just another college graduate. There was definitely a time that I didn’t think this would happen.”
Along with thousands of other Towson students, Padham walked across the graduation stage on Friday. But while graduation is a vindicating moment for most undergrads, the journey for Padham was much more challenging.
Diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia at 14 years old, Padham and his family endured many hardships for much of his late teen years.
“Processing that as a freshman in high school is surreal,” Padham said. “At that age, you hear cancer you think death. Even talking about that time still hurts.”
Padham withstood countless hours of intense chemotherapy and debilitating medications throughout his high school years to control and eventually conquer his disease.
“I had to throw sports out of my life and really just had to deal with the fact that my high school social life would basically be non-existent,” Padham said. “From my freshman year until halfway through my senior year the treatments were non-stop. Just trying to get through school at that point was a group effort between me, my parents and my teachers.”
With his cancer in remission for nearly five years now, Padham’s next goal after graduation is to create a scholarship dedicated to cancer fighters and survivors. Over the past several months, Padham has begun the process of forming a scholarship program with his alma mater, North East High School, located in Cecil County, Maryland.
According to Padham, the scholarship will be made available to high school students in Cecil County who have had their lives affected by cancer in a meaningful way.
“I’ve contacted several businesses in the area already to see if they would be interested in helping to fund the scholarship and have received positive feedback in return,” Padham said. “Currently, I’m shooting for a $5,000 funding for this first year. The goal is to have the applications created and the funding finalized by the spring so students graduating in June will have the chance to apply.”
Principal David Foye at North East High School has also helped Padham move through the scholarship creation process throughout the year.
“Working with Sam to get this going has been an honor,” Foye said. “A lot of faculty around here witnessed the struggle he went through. It speaks so much to his character that he’d come back and establish this scholarship for others that are fighting cancer.”
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society donates annually to help fund scholarships and has already been in contact with Padham regarding his program.
“The main goal of our organization is not only to fight this disease but support those who have taken it on firsthand,” said Graciela Eleta, a member of the society’s board of directors. “Sam is an example of someone who truly knows how much a strong support system means when fighting a deadly disease. It is our duty to support him in creating and growing this scholarship at his high school.”