Karina Bowling showed only a hint of a smile — and she was in trouble.
Again.
Karina had already been kicked out of school. She was on a life course headed for jail, she admits. But this time it was different.
Two military-style drill sergeants, called cadre, were in her face, shouting, furious, arms flailing, voices piercing because she had dared to smile. They were so close “they were spitting in my face,” Karina recalls.
Karina, 16 at the time, struggled to hold back tears.