‘Alcohol is not prejudiced’: OCC student wins scholarship after brother dies in car crash

Acacia Smith does not believe that her younger brother, Brenden “Blaze” Smith, should be defined by one poor decision, even if that decision ended up costing him his life.

Acacia, a 28-year-old freshman at Orange Coast College, smiles through the tears when talking about Brenden. He loved skateboarding and surfing at Huntington Beach High. He was attending Amarillo Community College in Texas, planning to transfer to Texas A&M as a double major in math and engineering while still caring for his father who has multiple sclerosis.

But Brenden’s life was cut short in the early morning hours of Feb. 13, weeks before his 21st birthday. His Jeep Cherokee struck a concrete median in Amarillo and overturned in a solo crash, and alcohol was involved, Acacia said.

“He was the nerdy boy that was all academic,” Acacia said. “This one time, he decided to do this stupid thing, and this happened. I just want to make sure he’s not made bad out of this because he was a good kid. It could happen to anybody, and I think that’s the biggest thing. Alcohol is not prejudiced. It doesn’t matter how good you are or how good your future is, you could lose it all in one minute.”

Her brother may have lost his future, but Acacia is now focused on bettering hers. The Costa Mesa resident found out about a $1,000 “Never Drink and Drive” scholarship offered by Newport Beach-based Johnson Attorneys Group. The requirement was simply to write an essay about how drunk driving has affected your life, why people should care about drunk driving and what you would do to bring awareness to your community.

Brenden Smith, right, enjoyed surfing by the Huntington Beach Pier.

(Acacia Smith)

Acacia said she had never applied for a scholarship before, but this one was obviously compelling. She became one of six finalists with her essay, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving ultimately chose hers as the winner.

“Acacia’s writing showed her understanding of what MADD knows all too well — that drunk driving does not discriminate,” said Melissa Estelle, a senior program specialist for MADD Southern California. “We could feel the heartbreak caused by the loss of her brother, but like many of the victims we know, she is determined to turn that pain into purpose. We are elated to choose her as this year’s winner and hope to support her in her advocacy journey.”

The $1,000 scholarship will go a long way for Acacia, a single mother to a 5-year-old daughter. The Ocean View High graduate is taking six online classes this semester at OCC, while continuing to work as a server at a Newport Beach restaurant.

Her eventual goal is to become an adolescent psychologist, partially so she can inform middle school students about the dangers of drunk driving.

Acacia and Brenden Smith.

(Acacia Smith)

She says she still thinks about Brenden all the time. He would have turned 21 on April 10, along with his twin brother, Jovan, who lives in Hawaii.

“You don’t think until you lose someone about how big of an impact it is,” Acacia said. “I think the best thing that came of this is that he didn’t hurt anyone. Say he was in California on the 405 [Freeway]. There were so many people that could have been impacted by this. This sounds so bad as his sister to say, but luckily he was the only one impacted by this … He may have not killed people, but he still left behind so many victims.”

Acacia wants to continue to try to channel her grief by helping others. She said the first thing she did when she found out she won the scholarship was to thank her brother.

“I felt relief that I was going to be reaching out to people, but I also felt like I would rather have my brother than the scholarship,” she said. “I don’t feel worthy, but he was worthy, and that’s what matters.”

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