00:00If I knew all along that I was going to do business,
00:03why did I even come to SOTA in the first place to pursue arts?
00:07Does it make this entire 4, 5 years journey,
00:11like, did it not mean anything?
00:13I think I thought a lot about that.
00:15My name is Aprilia.
00:16I studied in Dance and Film in SOTA.
00:19And currently now, I'm working as a financial consultant.
00:22Oh my god, sorry, I look at the camera.
00:24Okay.
00:25Wait, wait, wait, we start from the top, okay.
00:31So the first time I actually realised that I fell in love with dance
00:34was when I saw a couple came to my primary school
00:38to actually do a Latin ballroom dance performance.
00:41And then I started taking up Latin ballroom as a CCA in primary school.
00:45Yeah, it's just a very sassy dance.
00:47I don't know, I just love it.
00:50I love the music.
00:51I love the costumes.
00:52I love the thrill of competition.
00:55Constantly honing your craft to be better.
00:59I did that throughout most of my primary school.
01:01A lot of performances, competitions.
01:03And I used that to actually audition for SOTA.
01:06Yeah, so I got in via the non-ballet route.
01:11I remember the dance audition.
01:13I think they said that ballet is like the foundation of all dance forms.
01:18Debatable.
01:19Up till that point of auditioning to SOTA,
01:21my worldview is just Latin ballroom.
01:24We were introduced to ballet a little bit.
01:27We were taught how to point our toes and all these things
01:30which I never ever learned.
01:32Like, your gut is down, you're learning a new genre.
01:35Yeah, it was very eye-opening.
01:36I see a lot of people from different genres.
01:38All of us trying to learn ballet at the same time.
01:42Yeah, it was quite cute.
01:45The whole reason why I told my parents I wanted to go to SOTA in the first place
01:49was really because I wanted to be a dance teacher
01:51or to have my own dance company.
01:53I think along the way, I realised I learnt a lot more about dance
01:58than just Latin, you know.
02:01I learnt about what it takes to be a dancer.
02:04I think discipline was really at the core of what we were drilled into having
02:10through the little things.
02:12Like, making sure you reach on time to your classes,
02:14cannot be late,
02:15straight up, cannot slouch.
02:17Hair must be tight, straight.
02:19We know we always have to use gel.
02:22Any hair out of place will be singled out.
02:25There was always this subconscious thing of
02:29needing to stay slim
02:33or being in shape.
02:35I think that's the unhealthy part about dance.
02:37Even though it's not a healthy thing to fit your body type in a certain way,
02:41I understand how much we will need to depend on our bodies as dancers, right?
02:46When something gives way, like when I dislocated my shoulders,
02:50that's going to be a constant, reoccurring thing.
02:52Our bodies go through a lot.
02:55Yeah, so from all these little things,
02:56I think it ingrained a certain level of discipline in me.
02:59I know that if I were to do something, it needs to be right,
03:02it needs to be proper.
03:03I can't do things shoddily, like I can't be half-assed.
03:11As much as I'm a very competitive person,
03:13I think one thing I did not enjoy was the competition during SOTA.
03:16If you're not the cream of the crop or if you're not the top,
03:19it's going to be really hard to be in this space of dance.
03:23After a while, I would say I think I adapted from it quite fast.
03:26As much as I love performing, as much as I love competing,
03:29I had this mentality of, yeah, it's okay.
03:31Maybe dance is not what I want to pursue as a career.
03:35Thankfully, SOTA had many other things that we could explore outside of dance,
03:40and I'm really grateful for that.
03:42It really helped me to see that if this door closes, another will open,
03:46and there are so many other things that I can pursue.
03:49So while I was studying in SOTA,
03:50I was also at this very big side thing that I was pursuing.
03:54I was the chairman of the youth organisation,
03:56and I was exposed to events planning.
03:59So that was something I realised I really enjoyed doing.
04:02I think in Year 3, Year 4, I knew I was going to pursue business.
04:05It's always about starting my own company.
04:11So currently now, I'm a senior financial consultant.
04:15I'm entering into my fifth year of the career.
04:19I chose insurance in the end because my mum
04:23was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was in uni.
04:25So I really understood how that could help families,
04:28and I think I'm very interested to go down that path.
04:32Really, this one thing to find your own self-expression,
04:35like wanting to be able to do something that's yours
04:38or own something that's yours,
04:39wanting to express yourself through the things you do, I feel.
04:44Yeah, in many ways, the arts has helped me
04:47or shaped me to be the person that I am today,
04:50and eventually to be the consultant that I am now.
04:55Whenever you encounter difficulties or when,
04:57let's say, your body's down, your body's injured,
04:59you don't just give up on the item,
05:01you still have to perform anyway.
05:02It's the same in all aspects of my life,
05:04in my career, even at home.
05:06That builds some kind of resilience in me as well
05:09when I face any challenges nowadays.
05:12One thing that I face a lot in my career is rejections.
05:14I eat rejections for breakfast, that's what they always say.
05:16This idea of giving up doesn't come to me so easily,
05:20and I think all of this is really from dance.
05:22In my work, for example, preparing files for my clients,
05:26my husband would say,
05:27like, why do you spend so much time, you know,
05:29doing all these things for your clients
05:30when maybe to them, it's just a portfolio, it's just a file?
05:33But to me, it's just all the little things
05:34that I was trained since young,
05:36that little things matter.
05:38From when I was young, when I was in university,
05:40little things matter.
05:41From your performance, your angles of your fingers,
05:43the angle of your head,
05:45all these small things that make the big picture, right,
05:47you don't just look at the big picture.
05:48So I guess in the way I see things now,
05:50like because of dance, I'm able to have this quality
05:54that I can bring to work as well.
05:56It's not just what you learn,
05:57like you don't just learn how to dance,
05:59you don't just learn how to play an instrument,
06:00but what comes with that, yeah,
06:03discipline, like honing your creative skills,
06:07thinking outside of the box,
06:08like all these, it's very hard to learn through other things.
06:28I'm quite happy with where I am now.
06:31I had my child last year,
06:32so I haven't been dancing for a very long time.
06:34Yeah, I mean, I still really find ways
06:38in my life now to still enjoy the arts.
06:40And I still keep in very close contact with my dance community.
06:43I mean, dancing just makes me happy,
06:45so being able to do it as a passion or a hobby
06:47is good enough for me.
06:53Definitely want my son to have an arts background.
06:56I will be trying to expose him to different things,
06:58see what he likes.
06:59We'll send him for all the baby ballet,
07:01hip-hop, like all the baby hip-hop classes.
07:04It's so cute.
07:05Yeah, we'll do all of those.
07:08Camera!
07:10Camera!
07:11Dad!
07:13The arts also has a way of making you really reflect a lot, right?
07:16To look within, look deep into things.
07:19Don't just look at things at face value.
07:21You need to be flexible and adaptable as well.
07:23From everything that you've tried,
07:26there will be something that you would have learned,
07:28and then learn to use that in your next endeavour
07:31or next thing that you pursue.
07:33Yeah, yeah, yes.
07:34All skill sets are transferable, I feel.
07:36And I think it will be a great opportunity
07:39if you've been given to pursue the arts,
07:41like, just take it.
07:43Yeah.
07:44And we're done!
07:45Yay!
07:46That was great, thank you so much.
07:48Thank you, thank you so much.
07:50Yay!
Comments