STANDISH – Like many graduating high school seniors, Veronica Druchniak, a student at Bonny Eagle High School, has big dreams for her future.

Friday night’s graduation ceremony at the Cumberland County Civic Center, in which Druchniak and about 240 other Scots will earn their high school diplomas, is just one step of many for the 18-year-old Standish resident.

In years past, Druchniak’s dream was to go to Yale University and become an engineer. But that vision began to fade in October when she took the title role in the Maine State Ballet’s performance of “The Little Mermaid.”

“I kind of realized, I’m never going to get this opportunity again if I don’t stay,” Druchniak said. “I realized that it was more important to me to be happy than to go and get this education that I’d always thought about.”

Druchniak, who joined the Maine State Ballet school at the age of 4, was hired by the company full time in September 2012 at the age of 16. In November, she was promoted to the position of ranking soloist.

Following “The Little Mermaid,” Druchniak decided that she needed to stay with the Maine State Ballet and began recalibrating her college search.

“Before I decided to stay with the company, I was looking at schools all over the place,” she said. “One of the things I always looked for was, ‘Is there a dance program? Is there a nearby ballet company?’ because I never really wanted to stop dancing. I wanted to continue with it. When I decided I was going to stay, it became my No. 1 priority.”

After being admitted to Bates, Bowdoin and the University of Southern Maine, Druchniak chose to study mechanical engineering at the University of Southern Maine. Not only was the school a good fit in terms of character and affordability, Druchniak said, it also was the best choice when it came to pursuing her ballet career.

“When I looked at Bates, Bowdoin and USM, it was like, how is this school going to allow me to pursue what I want to do, as well as get an education?” she said.

To Paul Penna, the principal at Bonny Eagle, Druchniak’s decision speaks to an unusual level-headedness amid the “hoopla” of college admissions.

“She sits with and she hears all the great schools kids are going to and she chose to say, ‘You know what? That’s great, but I’m chasing my dream for something more that’s in my heart,’” Penna said. “That’s a grounded person that can do that at 18 years old. I’m quite impressed with that.”

Penna said he was also impressed that Druchniak turned down the offer from Bowdoin.

“She was accepted at a top school in the state, and then decided not to accept that and could have been accepted to a lot of other places but wanted to stay in Maine, obviously,” he said. “She had a top pick of a lot of schools.”

“I think that’s a really unique personality in today’s day and age for kids to chase their dream about the things that they want to do and that vocation as opposed to chasing their dream about their education,” Penna added.

Druchniak said that her years of dance experience should help her in coming years as she seeks to balance her career and her education.

“It’s given me a lot of self-control and discipline, finding discipline in your body, discipline in your schedule,” she said. “I think that will help me a lot in college where there’s more freedom. I think I will be able to stay on the right track, thanks to ballet.”

A CLOSER LOOK

Bonny Eagle High School will hold graduation ceremonies on Friday, June 6, from 6-8 p.m., at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland.

Veronica Druchniak, 18, a senior at Bonny Eagle High School, is choosing a local university, rather than her dream school, Yale, to pursue her ballet career.