Hi, my name is Samuel Benning, and while sickle cell disease has not impacted my life in the same way it has impacted someone living with the disease, it has shaped my life through the person I admire most: my mother.
I carry the sickle cell trait, but my mother lives with sickle cell disease. She raised me as a single mother while also managing frequent sickle cell crises, especially during the early years of my life. Some of my earliest memories are of visiting her in the hospital. It happened so often that, as a child, hospital visits became a normal part of life.
Even during those moments, my mother made me feel safe. I remember sitting with her while she ate her usual hospital dinner — salmon, corn, and rice — and she would reassure me that she was going to be alright. What could have been frightening memories became moments of bonding because she stayed strong for me.
As I grew older, I began to understand how deeply sickle cell disease affected her life. She shared with me how much she disliked the frequent hospital visits and how, at times, she was not treated with the care and respect she deserved by medical professionals. She also told me how sickle cell crises caused her to miss many classes in college, eventually forcing her to transfer to a school closer to home.
Sickle cell disease constantly threatened my mother’s way of living, but it never took away her determination.
💪 Learning Resilience Through Her Example
Raising a child as a single mother is already difficult, and sickle cell disease made that journey even harder. But my mother kept going.
She taught me what resilience looks like. She showed me the importance of staying strong through difficult times, having a good support system, and working hard even when life is unfair.
My mother was born into a low-income household and became the first person in my family to graduate from college. She worked hard to give me opportunities, including sending me to a private school for my K–12 education. She built a career, secured a well-paying job, and created a foundation that allowed me to pursue my own dreams.
Today, I am pursuing my college education at Rochester Institute of Technology, and I know I would not be here without her.
🎓 What This Scholarship Means to Me
Receiving the Warrior on the Rise Scholarship means so much because it supports my education and honors the journey that brought me here.
Although sickle cell disease has not directly shaped my health in the same way it has shaped my mother’s, it helped create my biggest role model and supporter. Her strength, sacrifice, and determination inspire me every day.
This scholarship helps me continue building on the foundation she worked so hard to give me. I want to use my degree to give back, honor her sacrifices, and make the most of the opportunities she helped create.
🌟 Help More Warrior Scholars Rise
When you support the Warrior on the Rise Scholarship Fund, you are investing in students like me — scholars whose lives have been impacted by sickle cell disease through their families, caregivers, and loved ones.
Your donation helps support students who are pursuing education, honoring their families’ sacrifices, and working to build brighter futures.
Thank you for believing in me, my mother’s legacy of strength, and the future of Warrior Scholars everywhere.
— Samuel
