Student awarded Beat the Odds scholarship

Growing up, when she didn’t fold towels “just right,” Sommer Anderson said, her drug-addicted mother would hold her down and cut off her hair. Another time, her mother forced her to kneel on grits for hours. The pain was excruciating.

No matter what she went through, Sommer said, she stood by her mother — until she was abandoned at age 14.

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“I lied to teachers and social workers, because she was my only family and, my mom said, if I left her she’d kill herself,” Sommer said. “I sacrificed so much to stay with her, and then she just walked out of my life.”

Sommer’s childhood was far from normal, and her life began a downward spiral when her mom left. But, with the help of counselors, teachers and friends, the 17-year-old Woodbridge High School student learned how to move forward.

Sommer was honored this month by Beat the Odds, a Prince William County Bar Association program.

Launched in 2001, Beat the Odds recognizes students who have come in contact with the juvenile justice system but were able to overcome obstacles and prevail academically and socially. The program is funded by the bar association and by donations and is similar to a program offered nationally by the Children’s Defense Fund, officials with the bar association said.

Students are nominated by caseworkers and others in the juvenile justice system and awarded either a scholarship or a laptop. This year, Sommer was one of 18 students recognized at the June 2 event.

Sommer was born in Woodbridge but left Virginia when she was a baby. Her mother, who Sommer said was bipolar, moved from city to city on the East Coast, showing affection one day and punishing her the next. Sommer said that she went to 13 schools in 14 years and that she spent much of her time taking care of her addicted mother.

“My entire childhood was miserable,” Sommer said. “I hated her so much, but there was something there that I couldn’t just leave her or hurt her. We moved so much, I didn’t have a chance to form a relationship with anyone else.”

When Sommer turned 14, she and her mother were living in Tennessee. She said that her mother sent her to visit her father, Richard Anderson, in Virginia for spring break. During the visit, Sommer’s mother told Sommer to never return.

Sommer began living with her father, a colonel in the Marine Corps, but the anger over her mother’s rejection got to her, she said. She began smoking marijuana and then got into “harder drugs,” she said. She shoplifted, drank and eventually got suspended from school.

Anderson said that he tried to give her the structure and discipline that she never had growing up. After she got suspended from school, he forced her to get up at 3 a.m. to lift weights and run with him. He had her study at the library in the afternoon then work out again at night. But his strict schedule apparently aggravated the problem. Anderson said he knew that she needed a female role model in her life, so he sent her to live with a family friend.

“I made life pretty hard for her . . . but I also think she was testing me to see if I’d abandon her, like her mother had,” Anderson said, noting that he had lost contact with his daughter early in her life. “I thought it would be a good thing for my daughter to experience a positive female role model, and that was something I couldn’t give her.”

Sommer moved in with Woodbridge High School teacher Hali Farrell and her three children. Farrell said they made Sommer promise to stay drug- and alcohol-free, and she quickly became part of the family.

“I never had a support system before, but once I moved in with them, they treated me like one of their own,” Sommer said. “I was finally with a real family like you see on TV. My dependence on booze and drugs stopped, because I didn’t need that anymore to be happy.”

Sommer began taking night classes and online courses and went summer school to catch up with her education. She graduated early from Woodbridge this year, at the age of 17.

“She had all the right pieces in place — the structure from me, a good female mentor and good teachers,” her father said. “With all that . . . she made a conscious decision to turn her life around.

“Other kids are in the same position she is, but they choose not to change. I’m very proud of her.”

Following high school graduation, Sommer moved into her own place and plans to work as a lifeguard until she goes to George Mason University this fall. She said that her Beat the Odds scholarship will go toward studying veterinary medicine.

The memories of her mother remain vivid, Sommer said, although it has been a long time since she has seen or heard from her. Sommer and her dad, on the contrary, talk and text daily.

“Sommer is a very strong young person who has been through things most people could never survive,” Farrell said. “The fact she was able to kick her addictions and find other coping methods is inspiring. With the love and encouragement of people in the community, she just blossomed.”