Superpower: Efficiency
Campus President, West Virginia Junior College Online and in Morgantown
Samantha Esposito has worked her way up to be an influential voice in education in the Mountain State. She started at West Virginia Junior College (WVJC) in the Career Management Department, assisting students with job placement, rewriting resumes, and doing mock interviews. After climbing the ladder there, she became president in 2020.
“Growing up in a small town, I always knew that I wanted to stay in West Virginia and have an impact on West Virginia,” Esposito says. “And through this position I’ve been able to help students all across the state, especially with our nursing program.” At the time, WVJC only had residential nursing programs, for which students would sit in a classroom and do their clinicals at hospitals. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a hybrid nursing program. “I did a lot of work in the beginning to get that launched,” she says. The program started in rural areas of the state and allowed folks both to stay closer to home for their education and to make connections with more remote hospitals that could make particularly good use of the workforce. “After we saw how meaningful and successful the hybrid nursing program was, we determined to launch other programs with a similar model, like Respiratory Therapy and Radiologic Technology.”
Esposito’s day-to-day work is never quite the same—some days she’s traveling the state to visit partner hospitals, some days she is meeting with students, and some days she’s on sister campuses in Ohio and Pennsylvania. But what keeps her motivated through it all is the student outcomes. “Students I helped get a job eight or nine years ago will still update me on their lives,” she says. “Just knowing you’re able to touch someone’s life in that way is really what keeps you motivated. It really is nice to know that, at the end of the day, I’m doing something that means something.”
CHECK OUT OUR OTHER 2026 WEST VIRGINIA WONDER WOMEN
Learn more about our Wonder Women
Since 2014 WV Living magazine has been honoring West Virginia Wonder Women, amazing women who are raising the bar in their communities, serving as beacons of light in their industries, and forcing change for the greater good. WV Living is proud to celebrate these Appalachian mothers, millennials, and mavens proving that in a time full of uncertainty, divisiveness, and hate, love for one another is all we really need. No need for bulletproof bracelets or a golden lasso of truth—these women are creating a better West Virginia with their can-do attitudes and Mountain State spirit.
Leave a Reply