MIAMI (WSVN) - A senior at New World School of the Arts set to walk graduation said it couldn’t be possible if he hadn’t found dance as an escape from a traumatic childhood experience.
Eighteen-year-old Peterson Exais finds it to be a bittersweet feeling knowing he will graduate from high school on Wednesday night.
“Honestly, that’s all we’ve been thinking about all year long. All the seniors. We’ve worked hard for this. It’s a sad but a happy moment,” said Exais.
He will be the first member of his family to graduate high school.
“The years have been long, they’ve been hard sometimes, but I’ve always had good people behind me, so I’m really happy,” said Exais.
The high school in the heart of Downtown Miami specializes on the arts, which lets students like Exais find an escape.
He had been in Haiti back in January of 2010 when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the island.
At 9 years old, Exais ended up trapped under debris and rubble for four days before he was saved.
He was rescued and taken to Miami Children’s Hospital where he spent a year recovering from 15 separate operations.
“Those four days, they felt short compared to what I feel I have to give to the world,” said Exais.
His mother stood by his side as he recovered and found a new passion to guide him through his life.
“Dance to me makes me feel something. Dance gives me a new purpose in life,” said Exais. “To me, it gives me that drive. You have to keep going. Stopping is not what that 9-year-old would say under the rubble. He would not tell me to stop. He would tell me to keep going.”
Others also admire how he was able to turn his harrowing life experience into art.
“It sounds like a cliché when you say, ‘Dance saved my life,’ but for him it really did,” said Rebecca Cannan, faculty member at New World School of the Arts. “He’s a very amazing young man. I wish him all the best, and I can’t wait to see where he ends up in the future.”
His success will not stop after he receives his diploma, as Exais will continue to do what he loves after he earned a scholarship to the New World School of the Arts College Program.
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