By Dorina Linga

A story about yourself is not just a simple essay about your life; it is a reflection on the past, present, and future—a meditation on failures, achievements, hopes, and disappointments.

So here I am, an international student who won the jackpot: a scholarship funded by the U.S. government. I was one of nine representatives of the Republic of Moldova (formerly part of the USSR) who were in the United States, the only one in Washington State. If someone had told me that one day I would be in the United States, fulfilling my dreams of traveling, studying abroad, and doing an internship with a professional ballet company, I would have laughed. But life is a lottery full of unexpected surprises. One thing I know for sure, as Paulo Coelho wrote in his book The Alchemist: “If you want something strongly, then the whole universe will come to help you achieve it.”

My mother took me to ballet from the time I was 3 or 4 years old. Ballet charms many little girls and determines their hobbies and their future goals; I was one of them. A year later we went to a professional national dance studio, where I was told to wait another year. Too small, I remember sitting on the stairs in the hall, watching all those dancers, rehearsing and dancing so gracefully, with tears in my eyes.

The following year my mother signed me into a music school for piano. A year after that, when I was 7, I handed my mother a note with an invitation to the dance studio Cununita. My mother was shocked to see my desire and ambition to dance. For more than nine years that was my second home.

Once my mother asked me what I liked most of all, dance or piano. I said dance. During the school years I lived for dance and music; school was a complement for my passions. In my last three years of high school I understood the meaning of graduating successfully, and I had to focus more on the basic school, but I didn’t give up my passions. I bow my head to the extraordinary teachers who helped me develop my artistic vision and character. My piano teacher, Ludmila Volcova, and dance teacher, Valentina Zagorskaia, are nationally recognized artists for their efforts in developing the beauty of arts in Moldova.

I realized that what defines me most of all is that life is wonderful when you gamble and enjoy the delight of winning.

My parents always said, “If you start something, finish it.” And so I did. There were some school years when I had rehearsals seven days a week. I had to run from one rehearsal to another all over the city. I chose to practice so hard because I love challenges. I consider them my most important motivator and tool for improvement. And in the process, I realized my strengths and weaknesses.

Three years ago I was chosen to work as a dancer in South Korea for one year, but I would have lost two years of high school. I decided to finish school instead. And that was what I worked on at Pierce College in Lakewood. As a scholarship recipient I had the opportunity to study both business and dance. The arts are business too, and it takes strong skills to survive in a not-so-well-understood field.

As an intern at Dance Theatre Northwest, near Tacoma, I realized that what defines me most of all is that life is wonderful when you gamble and enjoy the delight of winning. There was no way I could foresee working with someone as accomplished as Melanie Kirk-Stauffer, the artistic director. The learning experience afforded me the opportunity to speak and present myself in public forums. I learned about marketing, development, advertising, budgeting, politics, advocacy, and networking and how these activities all come into play to support the beautiful, graceful aspects of dance.

I am grateful for this opportunity—to my parents, Ion and Larisa Linga, for supporting my aspirations; to my teachers; to my hosts, Sunny Burns and George Neal; to my advisors at Pierce College, Sandra Plann and Mary Meulblok; and to the staff at Dance Theatre Northwest. It’s my dream to build something as important in my own community one day. I am really inspired and I can’t wait to put my learning experiences into practice.