Editor’s note: This is the fifth story in a weeklong series recognizing noteworthy graduates from the Class of 2016. This year’s series highlights “comeback kids,” students who turned challenges into personal triumphs.

Chloe Marum may be just 18, but she has proven her determination to overcome obstacles and make sacrifices while working hard to graduate from Flathead High School with an International Baccalaureate diploma.

The rigorous program is, in her mind, the path to a career as a pediatric surgeon. To accomplish this, she moved from her mother’s house to live with her dad and stepmother in Kalispell, where she wanted to attend high school.

“My stepmom went to school here and she said they have harder programs, harder courses, as opposed to the smaller school I was going to in Ennis that didn’t have as many options,” Marum said. “I knew that if I wanted to distinguish myself on my college applications and get to where I wanted to go, be as successful as I could be, I needed to do something like this to put my education first and really show that in a meaningful way. And I had that opportunity by coming to live with my dad.”

But for a while life took a downward turn rather than improving.

“Things started regressing really badly — they separated,” leading to economic hardship and an environment where substance abuse was taking place around her, Marum said.

Toward the end of her freshman year got an after-school job to help contribute to household bills such as utilities and food.

“My dad kind of pushed me to get a job, but at the time it wasn’t critical I have one. He’s a carpenter, so it’s hard for him to find work sometimes. Depending on the season, it can be difficult for him,” she said.

By her sophomore year the job became critical to keep the utilities on. Marum picked up more shifts as it became harder for her dad to find work. When her stepmother had left, so did her financial contribution to pay the bills.

“I was working every day after school so that I could help pay the bills and help keep the household together,” Marum said. “I knew if I didn’t do it, he wouldn’t be able to do it either, so I had to.”

Yet at one point it was barely enough.

“Towards the end of it, we didn’t have electricity,” Marum said. “We didn’t have hot water.”

That lasted a couple of months. Marum didn’t tell her mother the bleak details of the situation or ask for help. Instead she decided to shoulder the burden to stay at Flathead and complete the International Baccalaureate program.

“I just felt like I had to take care of the situation and eventually I would,” Marum said. “I didn’t imagine that things would end up the way that they did. I thought if I kept working and I kept my head down I could get through it.”

Things eventually came to a head and Marum could no longer live in her father’s house. After witnessing domestic violence, she moved out.

“I packed up and I left that night,” Marum said.

“My mom offered to come and pick me up that night. She said she would drive six hours and bring me back home and register for classes there, but I wanted to finish. I wanted to finish with an IB diploma. And so, you know, changing guardians three times is the decision I made to ensure that I could come this far,”

She moved in with an aunt and uncle for about a year and a half, finishing her sophomore year. In January of her junior year she moved again, this time to be with her maternal grandfather, where she regained a sense of stability.

The International Baccalaureate diploma is the first step in achieving her dream of becoming a pediatric surgeon.

“I’ve wanted to be a doctor of some kind. I’ve known I wanted to be in medicine since I was really little,” Marum said. “My mom went back to school to become an X-ray technician after she and my dad separated when I was a little kid. When we first moved over to Dillon — where she got her first job in a hospital — we would spend time with her work friends and we got to go visit her at the hospital and I always kind of knew I wanted to be in an environment like that — where I was stable and had people there to help me if I needed them to.”

She became excited about science in middle school and looked to her mother, who is her biggest role model, for guidance in what exactly to do in medicine.

“I like to do really meticulous tasks. I like to know about certain specific areas. In talking with my mom and hospital staff, I found out the best way to go with that [personality type] is surgery,” Marum said.

The oldest of five siblings — the youngest age 5 — Marum knew pediatrics was where she wanted to practice.

After years of persevering, Marum will get her diploma at Flathead graduation tonight.

“It feels so incredible knowing every sacrifice that I’ve made and that my family has made to help me and support me has been worth it. It doesn’t even feel real to me yet. I’m just... I’m ecstatic, and I can’t wait to cross the stage and have Mrs. [Kelli] Higgins hand me my IB diploma, and know that I made it.”

Graduation also signifies the beginning of 10 to 12 more years of education for Marum to reach her goal.

In August, she will start a pre-med program at Montana State University, where she will have sophomore status. After a couple of years, she plans to transfer to the University of Washington.

All the challenges and sacrifices have shaped Marum into the seemingly indomitable young woman she is today.

“I do feel it shaped me as a person. I think I grew a lot from it. I know now that no matter how stressful or how hard a situation is, that I’ve been through worse and I can get through things that are stressful like testing and school work,” she said.

“I appreciate so much everything I have now. I think it makes me a happier person than I could have been otherwise because I know I’m truly blessed to have the support system and opportunities I have now.”

Her advice to students who may feel they are in a hopeless situation: “Remember that you are so much more than a single moment of sadness and frustration.”

Hilary Matheson is a reporter for The Daily Inter Lake. She may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.