This Thomas Jefferson grad overcame a tornado and coronavirus

Marysol Ortega, senior at Thomas Jefferson High School, finished her senior year

after enduring a tornado and coronavirus. She didn’t have power for three weeks

but acknowledged that friends had lost their homes.

“At first I questioned everything,” she says. “I was like, ‘Why us?’ I took it personal.

It could have happened any other time, but it happened my senior year. On top of

the tornado happening. What’s next?”

In high school, she played varsity volleyball, cross country, track and field and

soccer. Her favorite class was English. She plans to attend the University of North

Texas. Her favorite class was English.

Her advice: “Stay strong. Life hits you when you least expect it. If you can’t do

anything about the situation, we need to let go. Stop wasting our time on things

that we have no control over. At first it was difficult for me to do that. I questioned

everything and everyone. That really affected me at first. I gave a lot of attention or

time to that instead of focusing on what’s ahead. I definitely would say, ‘Stay strong

and keep looking forward because everything happens for a reason. And I believe

that.’”