Article originally appeared in the Winter 2024 issue of Living Recovery. To view the full magazine, click here.
Reflecting on the past can be both euphoric and heartbreaking. As Samantha Dowden sat among her peers, waiting for her name to echo through the Lindsey Wilson College auditorium, a wave of emotions cascaded over her.
Each person walking across the stage as a college graduate has a story. Many involved perseverance, grit, and resolve. Dowden’s stroll across the stage brought back memories of where she’s been and thoughts of where she’s going.
Running from the police, living homeless, and surrendering her life to God – it’s a real-life script spanning three decades, all culminating in this one moment she’d dreamed about.
Her degree is just part of the destiny she is still writing today.
Dowden’s life now starkly contrasts the days of sitting in a wooden courthouse pew waiting for a judge to call her name some 13 years prior.
“I was in jail and had no idea how I was going to pick myself up from the ashes to survive the addiction,” she reflected, thinking back to her life-changing moment.
“It all escalated.”
Dowden’s 21-year battle against addiction started innocently enough. When she was 18, she started drinking alcohol. By her early 20s, she struggled with her self-image and began using drugs to lose weight. Quickly, she found herself just trying to keep up with her peers, using nearly every day.
“Soon, my whole world spiraled out of control,” said Dowden. “I went from what I thought was a casual user to self-medicating and being dependent on drugs.”
Around 2010, she was living on the streets, trying to evade police because of a criminal indictment. Relationships with her parents and children had deteriorated. Her path had landed her in a West Virginia jail, and knowledge about treatment options and hope for rebuilding her life felt non-existent.
“You didn’t have places like Addiction Recovery Care (ARC) back then. I realized there was nothing I could do to take back the harm and hurt that I caused,” Dowden noted, recalling her time in jail. “So I just surrendered and asked God not to let my life be in vain. I asked Him to let me use my story to help others.”
Soon after surrendering her life to God in December 2010, Dowden was out of jail and began rebuilding her life and relationships. She found herself driving down Main Street in Louisa.
“I knew there was something about this place, and I wanted it,” said Dowden. “I saw folks with so much hope as they walked down the steps of the ARC Louisa OP building, where I got my first opportunity to serve others in the peer support role.”
Fast forward to December 2023 and back to that auditorium. Like thousands of non-traditional students, Dowden, 52, prepared to walk across the stage as a fall semester graduate. She proudly earned her Master’s degree in Education with a Counseling concentration and a Substance Use Treatment certificate from Lindsey Wilson College.
“It served as proof that dreams do come true no matter how far down the scale we have gone, no matter your background or age,” she said. “The only limits we have in recovery are the limits we put on ourselves. There is hope as long as you are willing to get up and try.”
Dowden acknowledges recovery restored her life and instilled her with purpose. Not only did it provide her freedom from drugs and alcohol, but it allowed her to heal from the trauma, fear, and guilt she held onto for much of her life.
With a renewed body, mind and faith, Dowden rebuilt her relationships and has remained a member of the ARC team. She is honoring her commitment from her first days in recovery back in 2010 – using her personal experiences to help others rewrite their stories and achieve their true destiny.
