DARK PAST BRIGHT FUTURE

Recognizing 2016 graduates who shined in the face of adversity

STORY BY BRITTANY NUNN | PHOTOS BY DANNY FULGENCIO

Coming back from a catastrophic injury, helping a parent bounce back from violent tragedy, overcoming socioeconomic limitations — teenagers here and everywhere deal with hardships, but few do so while keeping up with their academics and emerge as leaders.

Jennifer Macias

It was a warm summer night when Jennifer Macias died.

The senior at Woodrow Wilson High School and captain of the Sweethearts Drill Team, climbed into the passenger’s seat of her cousin’s car after a soccer game. It was after 10 o’clock but they had nowhere to be, so they decided to joyride until Macias’ curfew at midnight.

“We were just driving around, and for some reason we were speeding,” Macias says, although she doesn’t actually remember speeding. That’s just what she has since been told.

“We were going 100 miles per hour, and apparently — I don’t remember — I was recording it on my snapchat. That was the last video I posted.”

While making a turn, Macias’ cousin lost control of the car and slammed into a pillar, striking Macias’ side of the vehicle.

It was 45 minutes before emergency officials could pry Macias, unconscious and bleeding extensively from the pelvis, out of the vehicle. It was almost too late. She died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, but paramedics were able to revive her.

The next thing Macias remembers is being in the hospital weeks later. Although she’d been conscious, a brain injury caused memory loss and other complications.

“I don’t really remember the hospital days, especially those first few weeks,” she explains. “I had no memory of what hap- pened. I didn’t know what had happened to me, or how bad it was, until after I got out of the hospital.”

Her body was crushed from head to toe. She had arch bars on her teeth to prevent them from falling out, metal plates in her staple on the Sweethearts squad and in the Woodrow dance program. pelvis and hip socket and multiple metal rods and screws in her legs.

In an instant, life as she knew it was halted. For weeks she couldn’t talk and every movement was an excruciating e ort. She certainly wouldn’t be dancing anytime soon.

After joining as a freshman and making it to captain her senior year, Macias was a

“The moment I saw her throw her first kick her freshman year, I knew she’d be captain her senior year,” says Lisa King, Woodrow dance teacher, who heads the Sweethearts team.

“Her form, her flexibility, and she has a very special presence while dancing. It doesn’t matter who’s dancing, your eye is always drawn to Jenn.”

She was fluent in all forms of dance from classical to jazz to cultural. Dance was all Macias wanted to do. Although her future