Pirates Log

Issue date: 3/22/07 Section: Campus Spyglass

Media Credit: Ben Jackson Misty Marez strives to do her best, thus the DSPS award.

The phrase "Believe in yourself" may sound clichéd, but those are the exact words by which Modesto Junior College student Misty Marez lives her life.

Marez, 22, is a quadriplegic who faces significant physical challenges and has been named this year's Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS) Student of the Year. Approaching graduation, Marez was selected, out of all graduating students in the program, as the best student with the most accomplishments.

Although her path to this point in her life hasn't always been easy, Marez has always kept a positive outlook on life.

"Just say you can do it," Marez advises. "Eventually you'll get there."

In Ceres High School, she was active, outgoing and the friend of many people. But, after a car accident, one week before graduation in 2002, left her paralyzed from the neck down, Marez had to face the challenge of adapting to her new life as a quadriplegic. It wasn't easy, but with the support of family and many friends, she made it through still looking on the bright side of things, Marez says and it is obvious in her attitude that she is still pretty much the same person as "before." During her year long stay in the hospital, Marez decided that she wasn't going to let her injuries stop her from going to college and doing all the things she always wanted to do.

"I decided I needed to go back to school and keep busy," Marez said. "I just didn't want to sit home doing nothing."

So her mother, knowing Marez would succeed, enrolled her in classes at Modesto Junior College. About a week after being released from the hospital, Marez began her first semester in the fall of 2003.

With plenty of support of her family and DSPS counselor Robert Williams, who she knew from church, Marez pursued an education in biology.

"I don't care what other people think," Marez said. "I'm just going to do it for myself; I'm not one to let my injury stop me."

Marez said the hardest part of getting through school is how long it takes her to do everything and not knowing how much time it would take her to get through school, but she always knew she would. Even though she has the challenge of being quadriplegic to overcome, she still feels like a normal college student, complete with the plague of procrastination. Despite her disability, her tenacious personality has kept Marez on her path to continuing with her education. She is now set to graduate, with honors, this spring and will transfer to California State University, Stanislaus this fall.

Continued...

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