Camas High School Senior Danny Macias joined journalism because she was recommended by one of her former English teachers.

She said, “My teacher at the time, Tom Sawyer nominated me for journalism and thought I would be a good fit. I didn’t think so, but I went anyway.”

Macias cares about telling stories because she enjoys reporting and exploring new places.

Throughout Macias’s life, her background has been a very meaningful part of who she is. She moved to Camas after previously living in Bothell and California. Macias came to CHS during her sophomore year.

In California Macias was used to seeing lots of people who looked, acted, and talked like her because she is Mexican American. When she moved to Bothell, she experienced culture shock. she attended a public school for the first time.

Macias said, “Everybody there was either White or Asian. I couldn’t really relate to anyone being one of the only Latino kids at the school. I just felt super out of place.”

Bothell was also the place where she attended public school for the first time.

Something that comforted her during this transition was art. It made her not feel so out of place in her new community. In addition, she connected with her grandpa who like her, is also into art. 

The most challenging part for Macias about leaving home and moving to a different state and school was the amount of exposure to kids. 

“Going from kindergarten to sixth grade in a private Catholic school with a maximum of 300 kids to a public school exposed me to bullying because I was the only Mexican girl,” she said.

Macias described what happened when she expressed her culture on her shirt one day.

She said,  “The first day I wore a shirt with traditional Mexican print, I had to wear a jacket the whole day because I thought I was going to get bullied.”

From the last three years living in Camas, Danny feels she can be herself and has a good friend and support group behind her.

“Even though there aren’t too many Hispanic kids in Camas, there are still some super cool people here and I can be myself and feel accepted,” Macias said.