LYNN — Rosie Chheang of Lynn English is trading in her basketball shoes for a hair and make-up brush.
It will certainly be basketball’s loss. As she did in the regular season last winter, Chheang, who was the Bulldogs’ co-captain, was a force that was hard to miss. While she only put two points on the board, she was constantly figuring out a way to help her team.
“Honestly, I feel like it was a great experience. Obviously getting picked as an All-Star and getting this experience is amazing,” she said. “We came to win, we wanted to win, but that’s not how it went. We played hard though.”
Now that it’s over, Chheang is taking a path that not many student-athletes seem to take. Instead of moving on to a university or college, Chheang is going to cosmetology school in the fall.
“It’s just so much fun,” she saId. “I was actually stuck between the decision of playing college ball and cosmetology school. I thought it through and even though it was a hard decision, I picked cosmetology school.”
Like with everyone when COVID-19 came around, everything seemed to stop. However, Chheang did not take it as a setback, but as a way to focus on this side of her life. She soon realized that her hobby had become more than just a hobby, and she had developed a love for cosmetology.
“I picked cosmetology school since I’ve been having the experience since COVID-19,” said Chheang. “COVID-19 upped my little side hustle of doing it. So, I thought it would be like a good thing to do.”
Chheang had one definite highlight-reel moment during the regular season that she can look back on. English and Lynn Classical were battling it out for the Greater Boston League championship last February, and the two teams were tied late in the game. It looked as if overtime was imminent.
All of a sudden, like the Red Sea parting, Chheang ran from coast to coast and put in a layup at the buzzer that won the game, and the championship, for the Bulldogs.
That’s in the past. Now it’s onto cosmetology, and you can’t be a cosmetologist and not have a favorite style. For Chheang she already knows what her favorite style is. “Box braids, those are my go-to-style. That’s what I like to do,” said Chheang.
