Dream Another Dream

My relatives usually said that in the future I will become a farmer for sure simply because I have two black spots lying on my right shoulder. The spots can be translated that I will use my shoulder to carry water for agricultural purposes. The saying implies that I don’t need high education because anyhow I will become a farmer. I was very disappointed because I wanted to be an English teacher, not a farmer. To pursue my dream I studied English with an English teacher in a Buddhist temple in my village.

As my village school has only up to grade six, it was disadvantaged for me to pursue higher education. Fortunately, my family moved to Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia where there are many private English schools. It was a lot more painful for me because my family could not afford. Hence, I studied English with some organizations where they provide free English lessons.

After a few years, my mother had some money to afford my part time English class where I could study proper English with a good teacher. It was a little expensive for me, but I have improved a lot within a short time. Then I applied for a scholarship in a newly international university “Asian University for Women”. One of the reasons that I applied for the scholarship was all the things about the university was written in perfect English which most of the words require me to check dictionary in order to get a sense what it means.

More than lucky, I got a phone call from my country coordinator telling me in English that I was selected for the scholarship. At that time I was in class, but I was so excited with the news so I ran home telling my mother, “I was selected and I am going to study abroad with many students from all over Asia. Especially, I will study in English from high standard university.”

My future dream will no longer unreachable, instead it gives me a chance to have a bigger dream. And that dream is to go back to Cambodia and help the government to improve our education system.