soprano fatima said. she is one of the rising superstars among recent academy graduates. being part of the academy had a very big impact on my life, especially after i left the academy. because when you are in it, you don't realise how it is actually changing you, transforming you as a person. when i left the academy, i started realising how great it was to be part of such a prominent institution. it's an academy or very high standards, it gives you a very, very special opportunity that can change your life. this means, for a student, we are always on call. i never actually relaxed, even on weekends, we didn't have the concept of time off. if we didn't have to work on stage or at the academy, we had to rehearse and study alone the repertoire we had