#GraduateStory | Christal Wen: I Bloom Where the Spotlight Cannot Reach

Part 01

Finding My Place Behind the Scenes

I have chosen to study stage management and design. My interest in theater began when I was very young.

My parents gave me plenty of freedom growing up, valuing happiness and allowing me to spend my free time playing and exploring. I became an energetic child who loved performing and discovering new things. I ran around our neighborhood, played house, and found secret places to explore. I also studied dance and painting systematically and did well in class. The confidence I gained then has supported me throughout my childhood.



Beijing Academy's encouragement to explore helped me develop those different interests into activities I could pursue.

In Grade 10, I directed my class's production for the English Drama Festival. I wrote the script myself, created roles suited to each classmate, organized rehearsals, and coordinated the costumes and makeup, as well as props. Our production won all four major awards: the gold award, Best Costumes, Makeup and Props, Best Script, and Best Director. Most valuable to me was realizing how much someone working behind the scenes could contribute to a successful production.

That experience also inspired me to organize a charity concert with my classmates.

The idea began in a small rehearsal room at Renyuyuan, where I had volunteered. When I first heard the children sing, the equipment was old and the microphones occasionally produced feedback, but the sincerity of their voices moved me deeply. Their singing was simple and profoundly comforting.



Participating in Sing! BA

On my way home, I kept wondering what it would mean for these children to perform on a larger stage, where more people could see and hear them.

Music can reach people across languages, and a charity concert could put that capacity to work. I decided to organize one so the children could share their singing with a wider audience and more people could learn about them and offer support.

The preparations were much harder than I had expected. Arranging the program and securing a venue, promoting the event and raising funds, and designing merchandise each presented a new challenge. We repeatedly coordinated schedules with outside bands and discussed the smallest details of our product designs. Sometimes a difference of just a few yuan in the budget led us to revise the plan again. Whenever I felt close to breaking down, remembering the children singing enthusiastically in their rehearsal room helped me continue.

We eventually held the concert successfully. The money raised paid for fresh fruit and vegetables delivered every month to the children with special needs. For me, an even greater achievement was seeing them perform on a proper stage for the first time, under the lights and receiving enthusiastic applause.



Afterward, I took the Renyuyuan children to a professional recording studio and released their songs on a music platform. I continued directing for the Chinese Drama Festival, joined the Student Council's Color Splash team, and supported further charity projects.

With each project, my purpose became clearer. I wanted to work behind the scenes, giving careful attention to the details that help others perform. I hoped to enable more people to share what they loved with an audience.

Part 02

Changing My Direction

Three years earlier, in Grade 10, my classmates had begun planning their future majors. With guidance from school and expectations from my family, I made a hurried decision in just five minutes. Black Myth: Wukong was attracting considerable attention, and I assumed that game art would suit my background in painting and my love of games, while offering good career prospects. I enrolled at a specialist art institution and studied game art for more than a year.

Directing at the Grade 10 English Drama Festival renewed my connection with theater. At the curtain call, my classmates gathered around me and brought me to center stage. Standing under the spotlight, I recognized the excitement I had felt performing as a child.

In Grade 11, I auditioned for the school musical and was surprised to be cast. After months of rehearsals, I performed the final song onstage and felt certain that this was where I belonged.

I began asking myself seriously whether game art was something I loved and was suited to.

People around me offered conflicting advice. Some thought changing my intended major so late was risky; others urged me to continue with my existing plan. Gradually, I realized how strongly I wanted a different working life from spending day after day seated at a computer drawing.

I held firmly to that realization and changed my focus from game art to theater. I am especially grateful to my mother, who supported my decision immediately.

Application season began after the summer, and I felt deeply uncertain. I questioned my decision to change direction while pride kept me projecting confidence to others. I was managing my applications independently, so I had to figure out the preparation and essay writing, along with communication with universities, myself.

Writing the essays was particularly difficult. I stared at blank documents and blinking cursors, repeatedly writing and deleting sentences. The experiences and awards I listed sounded impressive but revealed little of who I was. Eventually, I stopped writing and opened my phone's photo album. There I was, smiling awkwardly as classmates brought me onstage at the drama festival. Another photograph showed a Renyuyuan girl wearing headphones in the studio, looking nervous and intent. Others captured classmates playing at Color Splash and me explaining the purpose of our charity concert onstage. Those moments helped me understand what I wanted to say.

My experiences had repeatedly drawn me toward theater and prompted me to reconsider my plans. After careful thought, I adjusted my application focus again in November and settled on stage management and design. I am particularly grateful to Ms. Tan, who had recommended this direction from the beginning. While I managed my own applications, she offered patient, attentive guidance, reminded me of every deadline, and helped me through each stage.

The application deadline was December 1, so time was short. I completed my entire portfolio independently in one month and felt an enormous sense of achievement when it was finished.





Interview invitations from several universities followed. One interviewer asked me:

"Why did you choose to move from acting to behind the scenes?"

I answered confidently:

"I realized that I no longer just wanted to be in the light. I wanted to become the light that could help others shine."

Over those six months, I cried and laughed, felt lost and pushed myself to continue. I am grateful to the teachers and family members, along with close friends, who helped me through uncertainty and listened when I felt low. Receiving a different outcome from the one I had hoped for at my dream school brought disappointment. Looking back, however, I treasure those demanding, fulfilling months and the memories that belong to me alone.

Part 03

Feeling Comfortable Onstage Again

Growing up has involved difficult experiences. For a long time, performing brought back a painful memory that I struggled to overcome.

When I was eleven, I performed in a venue that could hold nearly a thousand people. As the music began, my mind went blank and my heart pounded. I forgot every movement and froze at center stage. Small sounds in the audience seemed unbearably loud. Those few minutes felt agonizingly long, until a teacher came onstage and led me away. Afterward, approaching a stage made me anxious and sometimes caused me to tremble. I still appeared cheerful, while privately carrying the distress of that experience.

At Beijing Academy, a new environment and varied activities gradually helped me recover. When my classmates nominated me to direct our Grade 10 drama festival production, I hesitated before agreeing. Working behind the scenes felt comfortable enough. I devoted myself to writing the script and planning the actors' movements, while coordinating the production's details. I began appreciating how much a director could create from offstage. At the curtain call, my classmates insisted that I join them. The spotlight recalled the scene from years earlier, and this time I felt acceptance and relief.

Later, I returned to acting. Through repeated rehearsals and performances, I regained confidence and ease. Waiting to perform at Sing! BA that year, I even felt excited about going onstage. Performing increasingly helped me recover and find encouragement.



The charity concert deepened my understanding of what a performance could offer.

After the concert, the Renyuyuan children were laughing happily in the audience. A little girl ran over and took my hand, smiling without saying anything. Her joy brought me a sense of comfort that felt different from the satisfaction of receiving applause for my own performance.

Later, in the recording studio, I watched the children approach the microphone with excitement and nerves. I recognized my younger self in them: someone who loved performing and felt afraid.



I came to appreciate the stage as a place where others, too, could gain confidence and discover their abilities. Overcoming my own painful experience allowed me to support them. Helping others perform became central to what I hoped to do.

Part 04

Advice for Younger Students

My interests have often been brief, and my changes of intended major reflect how frequently I try something new. Being young gives us room to experiment and explore. Each interest and attempt contributes to what we learn about ourselves. Gradually, those experiences help us identify a direction we love and want to pursue.

My advice for applications is to choose universities thoughtfully and make a clear plan. If you are managing the process independently, communicate actively with teachers and listen to their advice. Their guidance can help you avoid common mistakes and unnecessary complications.

The song I would recommend is Anywhere Is. I listened to it throughout application season, and it encouraged me to keep going through anxious moments and uncertainty.

Part 05

Looking Back

Looking back on my three years at Beijing Academy, I feel particularly grateful to my family and teachers, along with my friends. They helped me regain direction when I felt lost and offered patient support when I was vulnerable or disappointed.



I remember my parents' wholehearted support when I changed my intended major and Ms. Tan's patient guidance throughout my applications. I remember classmates cheering for me at Sing! BA, and Ms. Liang handing me a tissue when I was upset in her office. I remember late nights discussing decisions with close friends and roommates. These particular moments of care made my three years at Beijing Academy so meaningful.

The stage has taught me how sharing our abilities can help other people and bring encouragement beyond our own achievements.

At Beijing Academy, I discovered what I loved, recovered from a difficult experience, and learned to support others with care and determination.