My name is Theany, and I am 31 years old. I have two brothers and three sisters; I am the youngest in the family. I was born and grew up in Siem Reap, but my parents moved to Battambang in 2001. Since I was seven years old, I have stayed with my sisters and brothers in Siem Reap province. At that time, my oldest sister was 19 years old.
When I was seven, my family was in a challenging situation, so my parents decided to go to Thailand to sell fruits and transfer some money for our studies, even though we were poor. They didn’t want us to give up on our studies. After a year, my parents saved some money and bought a farm in Battambang. I kept studying and finished high school in 2012 at Hun Sen Wat Svay; my parents continued to support and encourage me to pursue a bachelor’s degree. In the beginning, it was very hard for me because my home and university were far apart, and I had to ride a bike to get to my university classes.
My parents are farmers, so they work harder than I do, spending most of their time working in the fields. My father became thin, and my mother said he worked more than 10 hours a day; sometimes, his breakfast was just a cup of coffee, and he only had one meal for lunch and dinner. He grows mango, corn, papaya, banana, potato, and cashew nuts. We have both long-term and short-term crops for our daily living and to generate income from the long-term plants. Due to my mother’s poor health, my dad did not ask her to work as hard as he did. Seeing my parents’ hard work makes me feel that I am not working hard enough.
In 2017, I graduated from the University of South East Asia with a major in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. I got married in 2018, and I now have a daughter who is almost three years old.
On June 1, 2022, I joined Reach Siem Reap as an English Teacher. I have many reasons for trying so hard to work at REACH, but the biggest is that I share the same goal of helping the community and providing the best quality of education for the next generation. In the future, I want to be the best role model for everyone. After working here for almost a year, I changed my position to become an English Teacher and Curriculum Developer. In the following year, I took on the role of Wellbeing Officer.
Working as a Wellbeing Officer is a big responsibility. We must be knowledgeable and prepared to handle various situations and respond with a good model. I am so excited to be here, and I will do my best to be the best teacher and a good role model at Reach Siem Reap.
