‘A Life Outside my Village’: Phounam Pin AC

Phounam Pin says she learned two important lessons during her 13 years as an acrobat with a circus in her home country of Cambodia.

“One is that hard work and training pays off,” says Pin, who is one of 24 Ada Comstock Scholars beginning their Smith studies this fall. “And the other is that there is a life outside my village.”

Touring with the circus took her from rural Cambodia to European capitals and cities across the United States. Pin’s journey to Smith also included time as a student at a community college in Maryland, where she volunteered to organize cultural programs for the local Cambodian community.

Growing up in Cambodia, Pin faced the hardships of poverty and life with a violent father, who died when she was 9. From the time she was small, she and her siblings worked as trash pickers to help support the family.

One day, a social worker from a local free public school came to Pin's village and told her about  Phare, The Cambodian Circusl.

“At first I was not interested in the school; my mind was on the free food they were giving,” she says. “But then they said maybe I should live with them and join the circus. So I did that from age 13 to 17—school in the morning and circus in the evening.”

Founded by survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime, Phare uses circus arts to connect young people to Cambodian culture. Pin says her circus training gave her a focus, and helped boost her confidence.

“I found the more I worked on handstands and contortions, the better I got. And when I performed, people applauded me,” she says.

Touring internationally with the company inspired her to learn English and French, and exposed her to different cultures. Her travels also got her thinking about studying abroad—a pull that grew stronger during a year when she was sidelined from the circus by a wrist injury.

“Angkor’s Children,” a 2015 documentary film in which Pin appears, brought her to the attention of a host family in Washington, D.C. She lived with them while completing an associates degree at Montgomery College in Maryland. In addition to her studies, she worked as administrative assistant in the college’s Cultural Arts Center, where she hosted a film program for the local Cambodian community.

When Pin visited Smith last fall, she felt an immediate connection. 

“I sat in a room listening to the other prospective Adas—some of them older than me,” says Pin, 29. “They told stories of how they’d wanted to come back to school and what had stopped them in the past, and I realized, ‘Wow! Smith is where I want to be.’”

Her Ada community has been a key support during the first few weeks of the semester, says Pin, who is living in an apartment in Northampton this fall.

She plans to major in government with a concentration in community engagement, and is also enjoying a class in “Women in American Cinema.”

“When I watch Hollywood movies, I have questions about race and gender,” Pin says. “I’m looking forward to learning about everything in my classes!”

Pin—who talks regularly to her mother in Cambodia—also plans to continue exploring her cultural identity. And she still practices acrobatics three times a week.

“I did a handstand in front of the [Grecourt] Gates,” Pin says, with a smile. “I hope sometime when we are back in person, I can do a show or maybe form a club at Smith. I really want to share my talents.”

Photograph by Peter Phoeng