Hi! My DD9 has been serious about Ballet and since 6 she has been in a pre-professional Ballet program (an hour away from our home). She thinks she would like to be in a company. To be a successful Ballet Dancer, one most often joins a company out of high school. She is smart, creative, motivated in all things. I am taking it a day at a time. Should I tell her to set her Ballet hopes lower so she can attend a university? I wonder all the time if the hours at Ballet will be taking away from extra curricular school related opportunities..or are distracting to her schooling. I wonder if she changes her mind later and wants to be a docter, or whatever, she will regret the years spent trying to be the best Ballet dancer. I guess you can only support them now, and hope that you are doing the right thing for later. But I certainly don't think that everone should or needs to go to college. (I've also though about having her accelerated so she graduates early, she can join a company at 16 and then go to college and 18 or 19...)
No matter how hard you plan, college just isn't in the cards for some people and the last thing I want is to make her feel like a failure for chosing her passion over college. So, although we talk about what college she might go to some day, we also talk about which company she may be asked to join. I have a gifted neice who graduated HS at 16, got married and had a baby at 17 and bought a house at 18. I'm not at all thrilled with her decision, but she is the best mom and wife ever and she is so happy researching cloth diapers, baby food, educational toys and babysitting. College just doesn't make everybody happy.
