Hello. I’m Anna (not my real name) I am 21 and I was an SM Trainee. Yes, this sounds fake or unrealistic. But I am quite tired of people creating fake posts and making fun of this stuff. This is all real. I wouldn’t waste this amount of time to lie to you, that’s pathetic. I am Korean-Canadian. I currently live back in Canada (Ontario) and have no interest in returning to Korea.
I had visited my family during the death of my aunt (she had a stroke) and had to stay for a year or so in Korea. While there, I had to attend school and the like and adjust to the culture as my family didn’t visit often. I gained a friend at my school. Her name was Jihye. *If you look at the list of 1990s names on Wiki, you can find many kpop idol names because they were popular. Just a fun fact as to why many are named Jimin*.
She introduced me to kpop and I fell in love with it. Because of this, naturally, I attempted to join SM. I passed. Jihye auditioned with me and she passed as well. Sadly, my uncle ended up getting sick. My parents and siblings and I had to stay longer. My parents approved of me attempting to get big to pay off my Uncle’s sickness. I hoped to debut soon.
You probably know how things work. We train Mon-Sat in foreign language, dance, singing, acting, etc. I won’t talk about that but I will talk about other trainees and such. I was admitted in 2008. I trained up until last year and dropped out because I didn’t stand a chance against other trainees and it took too much of my time. Jihye is still in training however and we continue to speak to this day, however, she does not have much free time.
There are some trainees waiting to debut in SM’s new girl group and boy group. I think one trainee is still there after all these years. She’s to debut in SM’s new girl group according to Jihye. She specializes in dance.
I did know Seulgi of Red Velvet. She was kind but quiet. Wendy had a singing class with me. I wasn’t on her level so she got moved. Only on certain occasions did I pass by Girls Generation, they were all nice. Yoona stood out to me the most because she’s very pretty. Hyoyeon used to give us gifts when we worked hard and passed our evaluations. Taeyeon always smiled but didn’t have much to say. Jessica was cold and quiet, though she wasn’t mean she just didn’t talk to us much. I knew she and Taeyeon had problems a while before she had been dismissed. I don’t remember what happened.
I didn’t pass TVXQ. EXO was quiet and kind in general but Chanyeol was conceited a bit. None of them are truly close. I spoke to them when when they came to visit the trainees one time. Luhan flirted with a female trainee. According to Jihye, they dated and broke up. Amber dated an EXO member apparently. Krystal is nice, she talks to us a lot. She’ll introduce you to any idol. (I met SHINee because of this)
As for SHINee, Key is very flamboyant. I don’t mind, I am not homophobic. There is a rumor that he is gay and I do believe that to be true. Minho was very encouraging. I didn’t meet any other members. Super Junior was in the building while we had took a tour of a new studio. Heechul was cheerful and told us to work hard but also take care of ourselves. Kyuhyun sang a small song for us, his voice is no joke. Shindong made jokes of some of the female trainees, mostly towards their appearance. I didn’t like him because of this. Luna of f(x) was very nice and dated a trainee. I think they broke up. Jihye said he’s in SM Rookies now.
Competition between trainees was tough. I know some got bullied for being Thai or Viet. Others got bullied for being favored. I was never bullied and I only had Jihye. Not many other friends to speak of within the company but I did know some YG trainees and Cube trainees. I will post about one of them later.
I was good at dancing and singing. I lacked in flexibility and acting, however. I think this is why I didn’t debut with f(x) or Red Velvet. I know many fans auditioned to be close to their bias. I found this upsetting. You shouldn’t put yourself through this much work just to get a glimpse of your favorite idol.
My parents moved back to Canada in 2011. I stayed in a dorm from then till last year. I dropped out because I felt like I was going nowhere and my age would’ve been an issue. I moved back and I don’t really regret it.
This is only my story. You don’t have to believe anything I said above. All of it is up to you. Though I enjoyed my years breaking a sweat just by breathing, I wouldn’t do it again. If only I auditioned for JYP instead.
And please stop making fun of trainee stories, I did not injure my hip and cry endlessly over missing home and my family just so you could mock me with your friends and sound stupid. Thank you.
- Anna