Fourteen years old. The highest position in the student company. Finally performing the dance I have been dreaming of my entire life, Waltz of the Flowers. Pain. Amidst all of the amazing feelings associated with performing for an audience, I felt immense pain. Not the normal pain that is standard with dancing en pointe. This was the pain that let me know something was really wrong. About a month before performing, I noticed something was wrong with my back so I went to the orthopedist. Several x-rays, an MRI, and many doctor visits later, I learned that I had a stress fracture in my lower back. My doctor allowed me to finish the Nutcracker season because she didn’t think I could do much more damage. I had to wear a back brace for nine months, do electro-stem cell therapy for three months, and two years of off and on physical therapy. I haven’t been able to dance since. Eleven years of ballet classes and six years of performing in the company resulted in an injured girl with broken dreams.