Read Nika's Story

Proud to be young and a woman!

8/12/2017

"Being in the minority, I am one of the youngest, female school directors in Cambodia.  I am 27 years old and have been a junior secondary school principle for 4 years.  Some would describe my career success as a miracle, but I have been working extremely hard to get to where I am... 

When I was 8 years old, my father decided to leave us as he had got a new wife.  So my mother had to raise me and my brother all on her own.  I still remember the day when my mum told me to stop going to school as we were very poor, which I was only in Grade 5.  I cried for a long time!  I decided to pay for my own education and tried selling cakes to my classmates.  But the school director found out and stopped me as there was already a canteen.  So, I started selling in the market instead.  My school results were always great and in the top 5.   When I was young, my dream was to be a tour guide as I could earn lots of money and travel with tourists.  Unfortunately, I could not afford to pay for the examination and license.  So, I spent 2 years becoming a teacher. After a year of teaching, my school director promoted me as his secretary and further promoted me as the director after 2 years.  Honestly, I was happy for the promotion yet scared at the same time as I was only 23!   I face challenges with the older teachers, which they don't follow my directions at times.  However, I continue to work on our relationships and hope for better outcomes.  One of my proudest moments is when I managed to help students not dropping out from school.  My dream now is to help my students finishing high school and not dropping out, so that they can have a better future.”