When I was a little girl, I dreamed of becoming a professional ballerina and dancing for an esteemed ballet company. My parents were always supportive of my ambition and provided me with the opportunity to train with the best professionals in the area in which I grew up. By the time I was eleven years old, I had my way paved to accomplishing my dream: I was a member of a pre-professional group for a ballet company. My life revolved around ballet. Seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, I danced my heart out. I loved being on stage performing in ballets such as the Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, and Cinderella. I went away in the summers to enhance my training and was even offered scholarships to study during the year.
 
 
Finally, I envisioned myself living up to my ultimate dream. The only problem in my way was my body frame. I am 5'7" with a medium and muscular bone structure so it was always hard for me to achieve the idealized ballet body with stick straight legs and no hips. To make matters worse, as I started going through puberty at age fourteen, I put on about twenty pounds that I couldn't make go away. At that time, the directors of my pre-professional group told me that I needed to lose weight or I would not be put into any more productions with the company. Being a determined perfectionist, I took what they said to heart. I thought my dream was ruined at fourteen because my body was filling out to become a woman.
 
 
In the next year, I vigorously exercised and obsessively watched what I ate while I increased the level I was training at the ballet school. I proceeded to go from 5'5" and 135 pounds to 5'7" and 95 pounds. As I lost weight, everyone complimented me on how beautiful my body was and at the same time how my technique was improving greatly. The more compliments I received, the more weight I wanted to lose. The directors started to assign more premier roles to me as a result of my sleeker body. However, I began to become very tired all of the time and rather sickly. I just didn't seem to have the energy to do half of what I could before my weight loss. My parents appeared to be the only people concerned with my low body weight and poor body image. My fellow girl friends dancing were also trying to lose weight so I was surrounded daily by girls taking laxatives or throwing up what they ate. Luckily, I never tried anything so drastic.
 
 
The breaking point with me came when I was on tour with the company. The director of the ballet being showcased had hand chosen four pre-professional company members to be in the production, and I was one of the four. Halfway through the tour, I decided to have a talk with the directors of my group concerning my weight and if I had lost enough for them. When I sat down with them, they both said that my legs were finally looking great and that I shouldn't lose any more weight. However, one of the directors looked at me and told me that my rib cage was protruding and that I should gain weight only in the small of my back. At that point, I knew that what they were trying to tell me was unreasonable. Furthermore, they told that I needed not to eat anymore but to find a way to have more energy. After a week of touring, I was physically exhausted and upset. I wanted to quit for good.
 
 
When I came home, my parents were extremely supportive of me. It is with their strength, love, and support that I was able to overcome the struggle with my weight and to succeed. I totally quit ballet for over a year. My parents constantly reminded me how beautiful I am and that I am not overweight in the least. I am so thankful to have such caring parents. I am now nineteen years old and still love to dance, although I will never have a career as a ballerina. As it turns out, once my body finished puberty, I slimmed down considerably. I am trying to get the message out to girls and women of all ages, that what is most important is being healthy rather than skinny. A well-rounded diet is much better for the health of your body in the long run. Everyone is beautiful for who they are, no matter what size pants they may wear.