Dual deed

When listening to Samantha Jernstrom's story, it's hard to believe that she once had no future. Now the outspoken 17-year-old is working toward a high school diploma and a degree from North Idaho College simultaneously while working two jobs to help with the costs of her dual credit classes.

Her future is bright. A long ways from what she described as the "dark days" growing up in the small town of Osburn.

She was born addicted to crack. Her childhood home was a meth lab. She describes abuse she endured at the hands of those who were supposed to be caring for her. And she became the only parent that her younger siblings knew.

"My childhood was very unsettled," Jernstrom said. "I had to help the younger kids with their homework, make them dinner. I grew up really fast."

She awoke one night to the lights of a police car flashing throughout her room. And even at the young age of 10, Jernstrom knew her life would never be the same.

Jernstrom bounced around in the child welfare system, living in three foster homes and two respite homes (short-term living quarters while children wait to be placed in a foster home) over the course of two years, until finally, she landed in the home of Jim and Gayle Jernstrom.

When she arrived, she remembers looking at the Jernstrom home and being awestruck by the cars that weren't broken down and the green grass, not dead grass, growing in the yard. She walked up to the door, her emotional baggage heavier than the few personal items she carried with her. Jernstrom stood meekly, looking up at the 6-foot-2-inch man standing before her, terrified and distrusting.

"This is your family now," Jim said. "You can leave your troubles and all of the issues you've had in the past at the door."

Jernstrom apprehensively walked inside, then burst into tears when she saw her room at the Jernstrom house.

"I knew I was finally home," Jernstrom said.

But the state had other plans. After just months with Jim and Gayle, she and her three younger siblings were ordered to move in with their aunt and uncle in Oregon.

Jernstrom wasn't happy there, and began working with her appointed social worker to fight her way back to Idaho. A year and a half later, her case went before a judge, who allowed her and her younger brother Jake to move back to the Jernstroms' house in Idaho. Jernstrom's other siblings, Maria and Johnathon, chose to stay in Oregon.

In August 2008, Jernstrom's adoption by Jim and Gayle was finalized and she joined seven other adopted children, including her biological brother, in becoming a Jernstrom.

The family includes Kevin, 17; Samantha, 17; Jake, 16; Juanita, 13; Angel, 11; Jacob, 10; Kenny, 9; and the Jernstroms' biological son Mikey, 5.

"When I came to live with the Jernstroms, it was literally the first time that anyone ever believed in me. That's all I needed. Someone to just show me that I was important and that I mattered. And that I could do anything."

And she decided she would prove them right.

As soon as she entered her junior year at Post Falls High School, she began taking North Idaho College classes for both college and high school credit through the WINGS dual credit program (an acronym for WIN by getting a Good Start).

She applied for and received scholarships at NIC, such as the Windermere/Coeur d'Alene Realty and Coeur d'Alene Garden Club NIC Dual Credit Scholarship. She also began working at the Post Falls Papa Murphy's and Red Lion Templin's Resort to help her along her educational path.

Jernstrom plans to become one of just a handful of students each year who earn a high school diploma and an associate's degree from NIC simultaneously. She then plans to transfer to the University of Idaho and apply for medical school in Washington in hopes of following in her adopted mother's footsteps in the paramedic field by becoming an emergency room physician.

For Jernstrom, this is only the beginning. But she has already come such a long way.

"I was held back in school in the second grade - made to believe I'd never amount to anything," Jernstrom said. "There's a reason I tell my story. It's so that girls who have been in my shoes know that they can do this. That there are people willing to help you if you're willing to help yourself."

Stacy Hudson is the North Idaho College public information coordinator.