Class of 2015: Finding inspiration, courage
Published 5:59 pm Saturday, June 13, 2015
One college-bound member of the class of 2015 found inspiration in tough times.
Kadah Martin, an 18-year-old Lake Stevens High School graduate, has been accepted at Whitworth University in Spokane, where she plans to study nursing before transferring to the University of Washington to finish her degree and become a physician assistant.
She was inspired to go into health care by nurses who helped her family during her mother’s lengthy battles with multiple health problems.
“Sitting in the hospital, being 7 or 8 years old, I just watched as the nurses would come in and out, day and night, helping her,” Kadah said. “As I got older, I realized I wanted to be able to do that. … Nurses do so much more than change IVs and give medicine. They make people feel safe and OK when they’re not OK.”
It hasn’t been easy for Kadah to keep her college and career goals in sight. She moved from state to state and school to school as a child, never staying in the same place for a full year until she was in fifth grade. She cooked and cleaned when her mom was too sick, a middle child caring for two brothers. Her father drifted in and out of their lives, leaving for the last time her freshman year of high school. Born in Iraq, Kadah’s father grew up in a strict Muslim family and did not approve of his high-energy daughter playing sports or going to Christian churches.
Somewhere in the midst of fighting with her father and worrying over her mother, Kadah found strength. She learned to count on friends and believe in herself.
“I have to focus on me and make sure this doesn’t become a repetitive tumble of hurt and frustration,” Kadah said. “I may not have much as far as money and a family structure, but I have such a strong base of support from my friends and my friends’ families that I don’t ever feel like I have to do this alone.”
Kadah has lived with a friend while finishing senior year. She takes advanced classes and is passionate about biology and writing. She hopes to write a book one day, but doesn’t think she could sit still long enough at this point.
Though Kadah has stayed busy with school, softball and a sales job at Adidas in Tulalip, she has energy to burn. She directs some of it toward volunteering. She has tutored freshmen, collected food for Li’l Hungry Hearts and helped out with sports medicine for the high school football team — cleaning, bandaging and bracing injuries on the field.
Athletes can be difficult patients, so the volunteer work was good experience in standing up for herself, Kadah said.
She’s been told more than once that she’s stubborn. She takes it as a compliment.
“That’s who I am,” Kadah said. “I refuse to give up.”
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439, kbray@heraldnet.com.
