Growing up in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region, Thompson had two great loves: driving tractors on the family farm and ballet. Spinning and twirling from the age of three, the local dance studio quickly became her second home.
“I started dancing when my family was going through a breakup, so ballet was the one constant in my life,” she explains. “Any dancer will tell you that ballet is all about discipline and control, and I think that’s what really drew me to it. Every day walking to the studio, I knew what to expect—it was my safe place, my other family.”
With a dedication to her craft that saw her spending up to 35 hours a week in the studio, Thompson hoped to join the West Australian Ballet Company. But during a workshop with them when she was 12, a heartbreaking injury changed everything. While executing a jeté—a jump she had done countless times before—Thompson landed badly and felt an instant, searing pain in her knee.
With her love of teaching unlocked, Thompson was determined to turn her injury into a silver lining. But living with severe dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia meant traditional learning methods were often out of reach, and it came with its own challenges of shame and bullying.
“When I was younger I told one of my friends about my learning disabilities and she said ‘You’re disgusting’, and told everyone to stay away from me in case they caught it too.”
Hoping for a fresh start, Thompson enrolled in an agricultural boarding school, but it still wasn’t the right fit. Resolute in her dream of becoming a teacher, she packed up her dorm room, quit school midway through year 11 and told her mum of her new plan. While she wasn’t exactly stoked with Thompson’s decision, she supported her—even driving her to the daycare Thompson attended as a child.
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This article is sponsored by TAFE WA and proudly endorsed by The Urban List. To find out more about who we work with and why read our editorial policy here.
When the saying “once bitten, twice shy” was coined—the creators didn’t take Louis Hanson into account.
A writer, actor, and comedian, Hanson is never one to shy away from an unplanned adventure, which is exactly how he found himself being ghosted by a man in Sydney—who’d done the exact same thing twice before.
It was incredibly painful to dance, but I did it, and when the curtain closed, I burst into tears. I knew that would be the last time I would get to do that.
“I had to accept that I wouldn't have a career in ballet,” she says. “I no longer felt confident in my body, that I wouldn’t injure myself again.”
Post surgery, the following year involved intense rehab, but Thompson didn’t stay away from the studio. Instead, she was offered a lifeline—the chance to become a dance teacher, and the sparks of a new passion began to appear.
“I was scared to tell them about my learning disabilities, but my mum encouraged me to lay it all on the table, and they were really supportive,” she explains. “They offered me a trial to see if I liked it, and I did. The owner was also a TAFE lecturer, so she showed me how easy it was to sign up.”
While Thompson had struggled with study in the past, at TAFE, she excelled.
“For me traditional schooling was rough. Obviously I had my learning disabilities but even the way you were graded had an impact—you were either an A, B, C or D student, and I was lucky to ever get a C,” Thompson explains. “But with TAFE you’re graded as satisfactory, or not yet satisfactory—just that change in language makes such a difference. TAFE has been the smartest I've ever felt in my entire life.”
In childcare—just like she did in ballet—Thompson feels grounded and exactly where she is meant to be.
Working part-time while studying at TAFE during Year 12 allowed her to get on-the-job experience while earning her Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care.
“You don’t have the same time pressures and constraints that you have with other schooling,” she adds. “You can do it all online. I was diagnosed with a heart condition in August, had surgery in February and still finished my Cert III [of Early Childhood Education and Care] in April. It’s so accommodating—anyone, anywhere can study.”
Now back to full health, Thompson has gone full-time at her centre, the extra shifts allowing her to save enough money to buy her first property with her partner at just 18. Currently studying for her Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care, she’s got big dreams for the future.
Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by a2 Milk™ by Anchor™ and proudly endorsed by The Urban List. To find out more about who we work with and why read our editorial policy here.
To join Wright in recreating nostalgic noms and finding connection through food, pick up a fresh bottle of a2 Milk™ by Anchor™ and some of your favourite Kiwi pantry staples and hit the family kitchen.
By Morgan Reardon
From Ballet Dreams To Bright Futures
Despite barely being able to walk up stairs, Thompson returned to the studio in the months that followed, determined to continue her studies—pirouetting through the pain. But it wasn’t until her sister, a physio, convinced her to get medical attention that the true extent of the injury was revealed. An MRI confirmed an ACL tear, and Thompson knew her days of dance were numbered.
“I was meant to have a partial knee reconstruction just before my end of year concert, but I refused to miss the performance because I had a feeling it would be my last,” she says tearfully.
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FEATURE
I’m actually just gonna have dinner with my mates tonight."
“I would love to get into the compliance side of childcare,” she says. “I want parents to know that when they walk out the door and entrust their child to us, that they’re loved, supported and safe.”
Intent on paying it forward, Thompson hopes to become a TAFE lecturer herself one day.
“I want to have an impact on the next generation, considering a career in childcare,” she says, “I want to teach them how to be great educators and have the opportunity to give back. I can say with absolute certainty that if I hadn’t gone to TAFE, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
There are moments in life that prove to be life-changing—the catalyst for an entirely new trajectory. But when that reckoning comes at just 12 years-old, in the form of a career-ending injury, you learn fast what it means to become strong and resilient. And they don’t come much tougher than Elisa Thompson.
We caught up with the 19-year-old from Toodyay, WA to have a yarn about the singular moment that shifted the course of her life, and how studying with TAFE WA became the key to unlocking a brand new passion.
I quite literally love every single day that I get to walk into work and make a child smile, make a child laugh and help them learn new skills—it’s the best.
