By the time she was 12 years old, Aquinnah knew she didn’t want to go to college. She also didn’t have a backup plan, so she ended up applying anyway. When her first acceptance letter arrived, she expected to be overwhelmed with joy. Instead, she was crushed by a wave of dread. What on Earth was she going to do as an English major? She certainly wouldn’t find time to work on her manuscript and further her goal of becoming a novelist.

In exploring her options, Aquinnah was drawn to Praxis, which her mom had introduced to her several years prior. As a dance teacher and writer, she feared she lacked the technical skills to succeed in the program, but intuition told her to apply anyway.

Today, Aquinnah maintains that joining Praxis is in the top three best decisions she has ever made. Empowered to ditch the gatekeepers and forge her own path, she launched her freelance writing and editing business upon graduation. She’s also an admin assistant, which has always been a secret dream of hers, and her novel is coming along smoothly. Less than a decade after deciding what she did not want to do with her life, she discovered the career that makes her heart sing.

You can check out more of Aquinnah’s work on her website and read a detailed overview of her Praxis experience on her blog.