21 Sep Marcia: Going Forward

Marcia was the darling of the class, or at least Marcia thought so. She was spirited and vivacious, optimistic and outgoing. This was from the beginning, from the time she entered U.S. high school from El Salvador with very little English. She desperately wanted to learn English and worked diligently in class to complete assignments in an excellent way. She also had many opportunities to endear herself to the boys in the class, as most of the class were young males from hispanic countries. There were few females in class, and with her good looks and friendliness she found boyfriends everywhere.

She loved the attention and had a different boy interested in her with each change of the calendar month. She would be interested in them for a while, and then she would move on as her interest waned. She was particularly interested in one attractive newcomer Ronaldo, especially when he did not respond as enthusiastically as she would have liked. However, after the summer break going into her senior year, she felt she had finally landed this difficult fish, and announced that they were engaged, well … practically engaged. While in school, Ronaldo heard about the engagement that he was unaware of. He instantly found a time to talk to her alone and spoke plainly about his non-commitment.

Marcia was the product of watching a lot of telenovelas, and she took the news in an unrestrained and emotional manner. She was beside herself trying to calm down enough to attend class. The whole class she entered was a tight knit group and had heard immediately about her sad news. They were witnesses to her resilience when seeking much needed consolation by the end of class she was commiserating in very, very close proximity to a good-looking, former boyfriend.

Also in her senior year Marcia voiced how much she wanted to go to the Junior Prom. Most new to the US students found the talk about proms so novel and fascinating. Yes, they had
‘quinces’ and parties in their home country, but the idea of a prom was new. Most wanted to go, especially as seniors, since it would be their last opportunity to be a part of a grand American high school tradition. Marcia heard from her mother that there was no money for a dress. However, days before the event her mother finally relented and they bought a dress.

There were tears when Marcia found out that ticket sales had ended the week before and she could not buy a ticket. She appealed to her counselor, and through the counselor to the administrator in charge to see if under the circumstances (her ignorance of procedures, at first no funds to purchase a dress and tickets) she could be granted a waiver to attend. No luck there, the administrator would point out the number of students who did not observe deadlines and they had sold all the tickets anyway.

But fate was on Marcia’s side as the counselor found a ticket in her own mailbox to attend as a chaperone. Having tried all the appeals on Marcia’s behalf, the counselor felt justified to mark the ticket with a random number that would designate it as a student ticket and gave it to Marcia. She instructed Marcia to come early, and to mix quickly and quietly with the 600 other attendees. As the evening wore on, the real ticket holder arrived and an inquisition ensued. The good news for Marcia was she could never be found, nor the counselor who became the chief suspect by the administrator for the duplication. There were several unanswered calls for both of them by name but with the dim lights and the loud music, Marcia’s dream of enjoying her prom became real, and was otherwise uneventful and full of great memories.

After Marcia graduated, she married a former student in her class and started to work on her family and career. She held two jobs until she had her baby boy, and took time off only at the very end of her pregnancy. When the baby was 6 weeks old, she called her former counselor for advice. Marcia wanted to know what to do. She found blood in the baby’s diaper; the counselor informed her to go to a medical doctor pronto.

Events happened quickly and Marcia informed the counselor the next day that her husband had been taken into custody. The baby had 8 broken bones and a ruptured spleen. Later on Marcia asked the counselor and a teacher to help her at the trial because the prosecution believed she was an accomplice, or at the very least an accessory after the fact. She needed character witnesses. Both women agreed and attended the trial but in the end they were not needed to testify for Marcia. The husband was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to six years in jail. The judge decided that Marcia needed to stand trial separately.

In the meantime, the baby boy was at first in child protective custody, then awarded to Marcia’s mother for full time care. The judge determined before Marcia’s trial that she could live in the same house. At the trial, the jury found Marcia guilty of negligence, but the judge, in giving sentence, reduced her time in jail to one day. She was free to then go home, and with the help of her supportive family, rebuild her life with her son.

Today ten years later Marcia has a great job and volunteers on Career Day at her community’s high school. She is a guiding force and receives accolades from all who work with her for her good sense, great attitude, boundless energy and beautiful spirit. And resilience.