Trigger Warning: The article mentions abuse, domestic violence and alcoholism which may be sensitive topics for some readers.
Phounam Pin AC’22 remembers her mother’s most important advice, “Education is the only weapon that can protect you.” Despite growing up in poverty in Cambodia, Pin never gave up on school. After 13 years of performing as an international acrobatic artist, she quit the circus to seek an education abroad, arriving at Smith.
“Education is the only weapon that can protect you.”
Pin was born to a poor family in a small village in Cambodia and started working as a trash picker at age 7, where she would walk to the city in the early morning to collect recycled bottles. Her father was abusive growing up, but that domestic violence was seen as a “family matter.”
“When my dad hurt us or when he hurt my mom, nobody would file a complaint to the police, and the police wouldn’t do anything,” said Pin.
In addition, Pin said that her father was an alcoholic and a gambler, which made finding money for food a big concern. Her brother and three sisters dropped out of school to work.
Her life changed when a social worker from an organization called Phare Ponleu Selpak Association (PPS) came to her village. PPS works to offer children and families the opportunities to go to art schools. Pin was intrigued by the promised lunches, candies and cookies in the free school program.
“I was hungry. So I went there because they give free food. And I saw people learning to do acrobats: jumping around, handstands, juggling and stuff. I learned about it, I enjoyed it, and I got better at it,” she said.
Becoming an international star with Phare, the Cambodian Circus allowed Pin to financially support her family. On the side, she followed her mother’s encouragement to continue her education, finishing high school and traveling two to three miles every weekend to study English at the local university. The life of an acrobat performer can be short-lived, prompting Pin to search for other opportunities. She felt the limitation of her body after a wrist injury in 2009. Pin remembers seeing her teammates getting injured and having to quit, some of whom ended up with careers as construction workers, tuk-tuk (rickshaw) drivers, or worse, falling into the traps of addiction and alcoholism.
With the help of a sponsor, Pin arrived to study in the U.S. in 2016. She transferred from Montgomery College to Smith in 2020, after falling in love with the Ada Comstock community through an open-house event.
“I remembered sitting at the table with the prospective Adas, I felt so connected to their stories. I understand it’s not easy to give up your job, your career, maybe your family, your life just to go back to school. Pursuing another dream is not easy. I can relate because I did that myself. I gave up everything I know and Cambodia to come here,” she said.
Pin’s experience at home inspired her to pursue a major in government and a minor in reproductive justice at Smith. Like America, she said, Cambodia also has a system that inflicts injustice based on sexism and racism. Pin argues that there is no word to describe brown skin, so society divides based on Black and White. She is considered a Black Cambodian, which she got bullied for growing up, leading to self-doubt about her identity. She is concerned with the lack of free speech, general poverty, and government corruption in her home country.
“Seeing injustice happening in my own family, in my own village and the circle of poverty of people with no place to go, no social services from the government, I want to be a lawyer in human rights. There are a lot of Cambodian kids out there, and they cannot make it. Whatever I’m learning from Smith is the foundation to get to the next step.” she said.
