Youths triumph over hardship.
Time heals all wounds.
But not everyone is content merely waiting for the scars to mend. Which is why three young Santa Fe women will be honored for their efforts to battle injustice in the face of adversity at the 2006 Amy Biehl Youth Spirit Awards ceremony on April 28 in Albuquerque.
Antonia Clifford, Robin Marquis and Erica Padilla are among 39 young men and women from around the state nominated for the awards, which are given out annually by New Mexico Voices for Children.
"This is really an inspiring event every year," says Stephanie Gabriel, Associate Deputy for Programs with the NMVC. "When we get the nominations we always see how the actions of one person-even a young person-can really change how a community feels about itself and its future."
Clifford, Marquis and Padilla have a hometown in common, but each have taken very different paths to their nominations.
It's been almost a year since 18-year-old Antonia Clifford's sister Jenine-then a 14-year-old freshman at St. Michael's High School-took her own life. The death rattled the close-knit St. Mike's community and raised serious concerns about the prevalence of youth suicide in New Mexico [Cover story, July 20:
].
In the wake of the tragedy, Antonia Clifford took up the battle for equality rights after witnessing the struggles her sister went through as a bisexual young woman, according to a press release from New Mexico Voices for Children.
In the past year, Antonia Clifford [who did not respond to interview requests] served as the sole New Mexico representative at a Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network workshop in Georgia, participated in a Theater for Social Justice workshop in which she co-wrote a play about homophobia and is striving to bring a Gay Straight Alliance Club to St. Michael's.
Another tragedy inspired 17-year-old Robin Marquis to take action in promoting awareness, safety and nonviolence. After the July 2003 murder of 16-year-old Marissa Mathy-Zvaifler, a fellow Santa Fe High student, Marquis joined the Marissa Memorial IMPACT Personal Safety program.
"The healing that I saw these girls [in the IMPACT program] go through and the healing that I went through and the confidence I gained was incredible," Marquis says.
Marquis says that confidence and awareness has informed her passion for environmental causes, her involvement with Amnesty International and the recent trip to India she took to volunteer at orphanages as a member of the Sustainable Global Leadership Alliance youth leadership group.
Tanya Doriss, executive director of the IMPACT program, nominated Marquis for the Youth Spirit Award.
"Robin showed herself to be a leader right from the first moment we met her," Doriss says. "She's pretty amazing. She's a quick learner, a hard worker and…she just wants to make the world a better place."
Closer to home, Padilla-a 20-year-old Santa Fe Community College student who has been in foster care since age 12-was nominated for her work as an outspoken advocate on foster issues. Padilla is a Youth Advocate for foster children in New Mexico and is also the youngest member of the foster care Court Appointed Special Advocate board.
Padilla says she is humbled by her nomination for the Youth Spirit Awards, inspired by the work of Amy Biehl, a 26-year-old Santa Fe High graduate and Fulbright Scholar killed in South Africa while conducting voter registration for the country's first all-race election marking the end of apartheid.
"For me to be thought of as someone that should be rewarded was a surprise," Padilla says. "To even be put in the same category as someone like Amy Biehl is a real honor."
