Samantha Silva

My whole life, what I thought I wanted wasn’t actually what I needed. For so long, I believed my dream was to practice law. That was the path I had been pushed toward, and one I carried with me without question. But over time, I began to realize that my love for advocacy didn’t disappear it transformed. It found a new home in the classroom and within the educational systems that shape students’ lives.

I discovered a deep passion for advocating through educational policy, especially in challenging the institutional barriers that impact the next generation of learners. This passion became clearer through my work in the Honors Program, where I was able to fully step into my purpose. My proudest accomplishments will always be my honors capstone paper and the creation of my website supporting college students from immigrant backgrounds work that reflects both my academic journey and my lived experiences.

Along the way, I learned the beauty of changing your mind and starting over. I learned that life will continue to teach you lessons until you’re ready to receive them. Growth is not linear, and neither is purpose.

After graduation, I plan to return home and work as an academic advisor at a Chicagoland university while preparing to pursue my Master’s in Social Work in Fall 2027. I hope to later in the future pursue my love for research and obtain the title of Dr at a Ph.D program. I am committed to continuing my passion for both education and law just through a path that feels more aligned with who I am becoming.

I leave the School of Education and the Educational Policy Studies program forever grateful and indebted for the ways it has shaped me, challenged me, and allowed me to redefine success on my own terms.

My advice to anyone still figuring it out:

Trust your story, even on the days it doesn’t make sense. Every part of it—the hard moments, the quiet growth, the wins you didn’t think you’d reach has shaped you for a reason. Don’t make yourself smaller to fit into spaces you were never meant to belong in. You are allowed to evolve, to choose yourself again and again, and to define success in a way that feels true to who you are becoming.