2018 was unforgettable. I quit High school at the beginning of my senior year, grade 12!!!! My ballet teachers and I knew, that it was time to decide if I wanted to continue my dance training. If I wanted to be a dancer I needed to study outside of Cambodia because there are many things I cannot learn here.
When I started my senior year, I thought I could still do school and dance but it turned out that I had to choose which path I should take, finishing high school or becoming a dancer. I chose to quit high school and focus on dance.
The reason that I stopped high school was because I realized that I couldn't focus on ballet and do school. My body was so tired, my brain was not working because of studying all day - 68 hours per week in school - plus a ballet class in the evening. I felt so bad that I couldn't dance well. I remember crying several times because I couldn't catch the exercises. I started to look at dance as a punishment until my teacher asked me about what was going on with my life. After I shared about what was happening, the staff at my ballet school decided to have a meeting with me. They tried their best to reschedule and give me a ballet class after school but couldn't.
Finally, I took a leap of faith, dropped out of high school to focus on my dance training and get ready to apply to a professional dance training school. It was really hard for me to decide because it means I won't study with my friends anymore and I will never have a graduate certificate from my school here in Cambodia. But I believe that this is my dream and I'm sure that this is God's plan for me. Also being supported by my Teachers, staff at my ballet school and my community in Phnom Penh helped me not feel rejected and disappointed when my relatives didn't understand. They said they would be right behind me whatever decision I made. And that's where my dream started to look real. I worked with my teachers to prepare an audition video to apply to train at a school in the UK.
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