Samuel White

Background

About Samuel White

It is through my personal, educational, and professional life experiences, that I have made it my life's work to improve the lives of groups of peoples that have been traditionally marginalized. Personally, I grew up in extreme poverty, in a very unstable home. Unfortunately, I dropped out of high school and started working at a young age. After meeting my soon-to be wife, and surrounding myself with people who drew out the best in me, I decided to pursue a career in education. I wanted to help those growing up as I did, in poverty and instability. I am proud to say that I am the first member of my family to graduate from college. I was able to do so while working and caring for my young daughter. I graduated from Indiana University with a 3.89 GPA. Going from a high school drop out to someone who has a bachelor's degree speaks to my resiliency, my dedication, and my desire to succeed. Professionally, my post graduation employment has been representative of my desire to serve those who have been pushed to the margins of society. For a short time after graduating from Indiana University, I was a Special Education Teaching Assistant. During this time, I served students with learning disabilities and emotional and behavioral disorders. I greatly enjoyed this work, until I was able to find a full time teaching position at a local Alternative Charter School. I worked with students who had a less than satisfactory experiences at traditional schools. The reasons for this ranged from getting kicked out of their neighborhood school for behavioral issues, having social anxiety, or being part of the LGBTQ community in a very conservative state. I loved serving these students, until my wife was given a great professional opportunity in the Tacoma, WA area. After moving to Tacoma, I worked for MDC, serving low income first generation scholars, by guiding them through the college application process and career exploration. I loved my work, but have since moved on to the REACH.