Samantha’s story is about a quiet but powerful refusal. In a society where a woman’s value is typically seen through her marital status, she opted not to let marriage describe her worth or her future. At an age when many expected her to settle as a wife, Samantha chose to question, to write, and imagine a life led by purpose rather than approval.
She was raised in Africa and grew up surrounded by a single narrative: “Marriage was the ultimate destination for a woman.” From childhood, girls were brought up thinking (explicitly and implicitly) that education, goals, and self-development were temporary. Once married, a woman was expected to stop investing in herself and devote her life entirely to her husband and children. Samantha identified these messages early, but even then, something about them felt incomplete.
As Samantha grew older, the pressure got more personal. Friends she grew up with married young and had children. Her twin sister and older sister married at 21. With time, the comparisons only got louder.
Phone calls from home questioned why she was still unmarried, subtly suggesting that something must be wrong. Achievements in school were acknowledged briefly, then overshadowed by reminders that marriage should come next. The judgment carried an emotional cost, borne by many women.
Instead of surrendering to expectations, Samantha chose purpose. After moving to the United States at 15 and completing high school, she entered university and began to think about the negative societal norms. At 19, she decided to author a book. Not to provoke, but to tell the truth. Writing became her way of reclaiming agency and creating space for women whose lives were affected by choices they never fully made.
Her path was not easy. While studying human services and sociology, Samantha balanced full-time education, work, and writing. At one point, her passion for writing the book led to her failing a class. She later retook the course successfully, but it came with difficult choices. Samantha temporarily quit one of her jobs to focus on writing and school, sacrificing financial comfort for clarity of purpose.
Samantha did not write alone. She consulted with other women from African cultures and shared her ideas to listen to their experiences. What she found was painful and empowering. They agreed with her completely, but were afraid to speak out. Their silence confirmed the urgency of her message. After this, the book became more than a personal story. It became a collective voice that had long gone unheard.
Samantha’s book sends a message loud and clear that life does not end at marriage. She is not against marriage but challenges the mindset that it should consume a woman’s identity. Her writing urges women to continue dreaming, growing, and caring for themselves, before and after marriage. Purpose, she argues, is not something to be postponed or surrendered.
One of the book’s most powerful themes is learning to listen to the ‘quiet voice’ within. Samantha motivates women to listen to their inner selves, especially when it calls them toward growth. At the end of her book, she captures this idea with clarity:
“When you begin to break free, the world does not applaud. Instead, they whisper behind your back: She’s rebelling. She’s forgetting where she came from.
But here’s the truth: you are not rebelling — you are growing. You are not forgetting your culture — you are reshaping it. You are not disrespecting your roots — you are planting stronger ones for the generations to come.”
Samantha’s continuous struggle and journey are only getting started. What took off as a personal awareness has grown into a movement of courage and choice. Her story reminds us that growth is not betrayal, and purpose is not rebellion. For Samantha and for the women she writes for, the story is still being written.