All Junior Victoria Trieu could think about was her dreams of dancing turning into dust while sitting in a cold hospital room, awaiting surgery.
When Trieu was in sixth grade, her parents took her to the doctor because her ballet teacher complained about her bad posture. She then learned that she had severe scoliosis at the age of 11. She soon had spinal fusion surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles on Dec. 23, 2009. The surgery lasted over eight hours in order to place rods in her back that would help straighten her spine.
After her surgery, Trieu’s doctors advised her to stop dancing because she was unable to stand for over two hours without her back starting to ache. However, Trieu decided not to let her condition get in the way of her dreams. She believes that scoliosis certainly does not define her as dancer.
“I always had dance in the back of my head,” Trieu said. “I even wanted to dance a week after my surgery. Why quit doing something you love the most? Even though doctors said it would be hard to go back I knew that if I tried hard enough, I could improve slowly. I love dancing way too much to just quit.”
She went back to dance at her studio a year later and went on to join Oak Auxiliaries for two years and TCHS Auxiliaries for her freshman year. She is currently a two year member on Choreo and a first year member on Varsity Song.
However, because of the hours of dancing a week, it is still a challenge for Trieu to endure scoliosis. She has to learn to deal with the embarrassment and is continuously striving to defeat her condition.
“My back limits my dancing in many ways,” Trieu said. “I can’t really bend my back so I can’t do certain jumps and leaps. I learned that since I have a limitation, I have to work much harder and try to improve in areas where I am limited so that I do not stand out.”
Having scoliosis and undergoing surgery had a huge impact on Trieu’s life. Although her experiences have also affected her with scars on the outside, they have ultimately helped her become a better person.
“Surgery changed my life,” Trieu said. “I remember going on the eighth grade Raging Waters field trip and being embarrassed about the huge scar on my back. Having this scar taught me how people often are but shouldn’t be embarrassed over small things. Also, whenever I see someone struggling during dance, I will go over and try my best to help them out because I know how it feels like to not be able to get a movement right.”
Trieu’s hard work and dedication has not gone unnoticed. Her teammates look up to her as a role model.
“I think she’s such an inspiration because she keeps going despite her condition,” Senior Vienn Nong said. “Not a lot of people can do that and I truly admire her for that.”
Though the odds of dancing were initially against her, Trieu succeeded in not giving up her dreams. She learned to work around her limitations and to keep moving forward. Since realizing that obstacles are meant to be overcome, her passion for dancing has increased more and more.
“No one should ever come across something they can’t do and just give up,” Trieu said. “Especially if it’s something you love.”