Page 81 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2019

High school can be a trying experience
for anyone; there are grades to be made, extracurricular activities in which to participate and a social life that needs continual care. Gulfport High School student Samantha Bell
faced those pressures the summer before she was to enter the ninth grade. Additionally, she was faced with the life-changing challenge of being diagnosed with childhood acute lymphoblastic (ALL) t-type leukemia in June of 2016 when she was 14 years of age.
SAMANTHA
BELL
story by Jeff Clark photo courtesy of Jennifer Bell
“It was hard, but I did my best to keep up with my school work,” Bell said. “I would
call my school and get my assignments and take tests at special times because I was undergoing chemotherapy and it really affected my brain some days.”
In October, as a 17-year-old junior, Bell received the news that she was cancer free, which meant she could concentrate on being an average Gulfport high student.
“I started going back to school full time when I was starting the tenth grade,” she said. Bell was welcomed back with open arms from the staff and faculty.
She’s on the student council and a member of the Gulfport Mayor’s Youth Council, the National Honor Society and a laundry list of clubs. She was also recently voted junior class favorite.
“The students and staff were very supportive of me when
I was sick and when I came back to school,” she said. “I never knew I had so much support until I started to see the things that people were doing for me.”
Bell is uncertain where she wants to attend college. She’s tossing around Southern Miss and Mississippi State and some other schools. “I’m thinking
about becoming a doctor or an oncologist because I want to help other people,” she said. “I’m not certain what exactly I want to do, but I can see myself helping others.”
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April 2019 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 81
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