Somebody’s Wiser

The beginning of everyone’s success story starts with guidance from someone wiser.  It is why award acceptance speeches are often a list of thank-you’s, why we have national holidays to celebrate our parents and their wisdom, and why every underdog movie has the scene where the main character turns to their mentor after reaching their goal.  For many students at Greencastle Antrim High School, and even some local colleges, Samantha Marsh is the one to turn to for advice.  Mrs. Marsh who is fondly referred to as Sam or Sammy by her students and interns is Greencastle Antrim’s athletic trainer.  Mrs. Marsh started at Greencastle in the fall of 2017 and instantly opened her doors to students and has since maintained a group of students who volunteer under her.  Even after graduation Mrs. Marsh has students, such as myself, that keep in touch with her as she was an impactful part of their life. However, Mrs. Marsh fills many roles outside of her current job title.  Mrs. Marsh is a mother of 2 young boys and is a beach body coach, as well as being a second time grad student. 

As most students will attest even managing schoolwork can prove to be difficult.  Yet Mrs. Marsh is so much more than a student and seems to balance her life with grace.  When asked how she manages her time she explained that a lot of her time is spent filling two roles at once. Mrs. Marsh often is doing schoolwork when she does not have athletes that need her at work. However, even with having to multitask Mrs. Marsh expressed that she thinks having a separation of your home and work life is important for maintaining a balanced life. She explained how even with a busy life, setting time aside just for your family and friends is something she does with intention to ensure that she is actively involved with her husband and two kids.  While Mrs. Marsh seems to thrive as a student she also sees the flip side of the coin at work.

Even acting as an athletic trainer Mrs. Marsh is filling multiple roles at once.  While she does her job as an athletic trainer she is also acting as a teacher for her current students.  She provides lessons on a daily basis on anatomy or common injuries so her students can have a more in-depth understanding of athletic training and health care in general.  Mrs. Marsh acts in a mentor capacity as well at work for her students have since graduated from high school and are perusing sports medicine.  She allows her previous students to reach out to hear and seek guidance and advice as well as ask study questions.  Mrs. Marsh truly uses her patience and knowledge to give current students the space to grow.

With so many roles to fill it is easy to visualize Mrs. Marsh rushing from place to place and stressed to the max on a daily basis.   However, this could not be further from the truth.  Mrs. Marsh has a relaxed confidence that makes a room lively yet at ease.  Mrs. Marsh’s nature makes it easy to see why so many young adults seek counsel from her.  After speaking with both Mrs. Marsh and her current student, Jade Blagg, it was encouraging to find a common thread between them that truly showed that Mrs. Marsh’s impact goes far beyond the lessons she teaches as an athletic trainer.  Jade happily described Mrs. Marsh as her, “second mom,” and went on to say that, “She has been through so much… and she still smiles and laughs and has a good time. ” 

When I later asked Jade what lessons she has learned while working with Sam, she responded, “The number one thing I learned [from Sam] is to take it with a grain of salt because something better is always coming.”  It was easy to see this lesson came from Mrs. Marsh’s teaching since Mrs. Marsh shared some words of wisdom saying, “We get so engrossed in our challenges that we think it’s never going to end, there is always an end in sight.”  This lesson is something that we all often need reminded of during our times of struggle.  It is easy to lose sight of the good that surrounds us when we are being challenged but it is so important to find the good in our life to help propel us forward.  Sometimes the easiest way to get that reminder is to find your someone wiser. For myself and so many others our someone wiser is Samantha Marsh.  I encourage you to find the person that you can turn to for words of encouragement when times get tough.  Your someone wiser can be anyone who reminds you of the good in life and is simply willing to be there for you when life isn’t sailing smoothly.