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4 a.m. — My alarm rings and I jump out of bed. I have to study for midterms. 

7 a.m. — My dad drives me to work on the set of General Hospital.

12 p.m. — I make it to school in time to take my test. 

2 p.m. — I leave early from school to prepare for my voiceover job. I go over my lines and nap in the car.  

7 p.m. — I make it home from my four-hour voiceover session.

9 p.m. — I study and complete homework for my extra honors classes.

11 p.m. — I get ready to start the day again.

Grind, hustle and repeat, right? Not exactly.

Eventually, my body started shutting down, I felt my mental health declining, and I began dozing off in class and even on set.

I wasn’t happy. Although I was living “the dream” and working on two different shows at the same time, my 16-year-old body couldn’t handle the stress of trying to maintain my 4.24 GPA and continuing to become the best actress and dancer I could be.

So how did I balance the eight-hour school days, long voiceover sessions and memorizing up to 30 pages of dialogue? I chose to make a sacrifice — and that sacrifice was going to public school.

Everyone told me not to do it. Everyone said I would miss out socially, or miss some of the best parts of my life. But I felt led to do it. So I did. And it's a decision I’ve never regretted.

Now with more flexible time, I had opportunities to take new dance classes, learn how to bake, attend acting classes with like-minded artists and even go to homecoming with friends from different schools. 

It wasn’t always easy though. There were a few times that I felt left out, and even moments that I wish that I could’ve been more socially in tune with my peers. But in my heart, I felt that I had made the best decision for me.

Eventually, the fruition of my sacrifice arrived during college application season; I was grateful to be as prepared as I was. The extra writing practice I had during my homeschooled junior year prepared me for the numerous essays I had to write. While I felt my friends were scrambling to keep up with due dates, I was able to focus on my future. I got accepted to 14 universities, including USC and UCLA. I'll be a Bruin in the fall.

If I learned anything from my experience, it’s that sometimes you have to give in order to receive. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the crutches in life that make you comfortable if you want to see your dreams come to fruition. If you don’t like your job, how can you move into a different position? If you’re not happy with your lifestyle, how can you make a healthy change? If you’re trying to be a great artist and get a great education, what steps do you need to take to reach your goals?

I’ve learned from my balancing act that success often means going against the grain. Everyone advised me not to leave public high school, to stay where I was content. However, I don’t believe that any person grows in comfort. More so, I believe that when we are put into situations outside of our comfort zone, we are able to grow, thrive and prosper.

Do I think every aspiring artist should do what I did? Of course not. I am continually learning not to look to my left or right and compare myself with people around me, but to do what is best for me.

Finally, I believe that it is important to redefine success. As a person of color, there’s always a driving force to push myself to create generational wealth for my family and my community. However, I believe it is important for us as a people to take time for our physical and mental health as well. While success is the goal, balance is understanding the distribution of hard work and rest. Balance is also the realization that time is still on our side; while we’re still alive and breathing, we have a chance to make an impact.

Balance can only happen when we have the tools to grow. Otherwise, we push ourselves toward a version of success that leaves us overwhelmed and stripped of motivation.

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Sydney Mikayla is an actress. She currently stars as Trina Robinson on the award-winning soap opera, ‘General Hospital,’ which is currently the longest-running daytime drama in production.