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testimony of suffering and courage
Recently, Taylor native Savannah Martinez, 24, celebrated a milestone she thought she might never see.
On May 9, Martinez graduated magna cum laude from Southern New Hampshire University and was honored for being a first-generation college graduate as she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with a concentration in Child and Adolescent Behavior — despite facing severe health issues along the way.
“It took me six years, but I did it,” Martinez said. “Right now, my purpose is to be able to speak out and advocate for those who can’t or people who never had a chance to.”
By all accounts, earning this degree has been a formidable journey for Martinez, a single mother to a twoyear- old son, who is facing a life-long battle with cancer.
In 2018, just two weeks after graduating from Taylor High School and landing a full-scholarship to Lamar University, Martinez discovered that she had a rare spinal tumor that threatened her with paralysis—and even worse.
“I think it was two weeks after I graduated when I had my first surgery,” Martinez said. “I was scared, and I was crying because it was a life-threatening situation. The tumor had moved up towards my brain, so it was in my brain stem. They told me they had to target that part first because it could cause brain damage. And then they discovered it was full blown, from top to bottom, on my back.”
Due to Martinez’s need for a flexible schedule to accommodate multiple hospital stays and surgeries at Duke University in North Carolina, she had to turn down the scholarship to her dream school, and she was grateful to find the online-only degree option at SNHU.
“I would say what makes me most proud about the achievement is the fact that although there was a time when I questioned if I could ever do it at all, or if I would ever get my degree, this school gave me that opportunity,” Martinez said.
Martinez, who plans to study Applied Behavioral Analysis at the University of Texas at San Antonio to work with youth with special needs, said she gets her courage through her faith in God.
“Going into surgery…I just remember saying, ‘Lord help me; show me I am going to be OK,’” she recalled. “It was kind of like an out-of-body experience, kind of like you see in the movies, where your spirit is kind of hovering over your body, and I heard him say, ‘Don’t worry. Just be at peace. I am with you.’ During that moment, I could just feel all the tension and all the worry leave my body. And when I woke up, I didn’t have that same fear.”
Sister, Chastity Robinson, 43, said despite Martinez being the baby of nine siblings in the family, she is a role model and an inspiration for her.
“Her prognosis for the rest of her life is always going to be monitored and watched because they were unable to remove 100% of [the cancer] without risking her life,” Robinson said. “Her life has been a testimony of suffering and courage. Life has brought her to her knees over and over, but she has always found the strength to get back up, and it is because of her faith in God. She is patient in affliction, and she is prayerful, and that has been her source of strength.”
For her part, Martinez said she hopes her story can encourage others.
“If I had to give advice to anybody—whether it’s going through the same situation as me or any other medical issue, or just life itself—I would say that what may seem like the impossible is always possible,” Martinez said. “It’s just a matter of wanting it and putting your mind to it.”
