I was told by a friend that this site was very good for discussing dance realated things, and I see that she was right! I already love it!

My reason for writing is simply this: one of my instructors for college is interested in me writing a paper about the hardships related to studying ballet seriously, such as financial problems for students, injuries, unsupportive parents, etc. Well, frankly, none of this has ever happened to me.

I was wondering if any of you would be interested in sharing the difficult times during your dance traing with me, like when you were closest to giving up or any of that sort of thing, so that maybe I will understand better what other dancers go through.

Really, I am very interested in your stories. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Well, my story is very small in comparison to what else is out there, but here it is.
Ballet training has always been difficult, for me, because my mom doesn't think it's a good career, so she always discourages me, and for the longest time, she only let me take two classes a week. Two!
I also started late, so catching up has been hard. Most girls start young, and I was fourteen the first time I entered the studio! It was embarassing, but I knew it's what I wanted, so I worked hard and pushed myself.
Smaller problems included the fact that I have three sisters who also do activities, so money was always tight. I had to get jobs to help pay for the classes.
Ah, let's see. Oh, I had really tight hamstrings, so tight that I had one teacher say I couldn't be a dancer unless I lossened them, so that was another thing I had to work on.
I thought about giving ballet up alot because of all these problems. But the biggest barrier has always been my lack of confidence. Still need to work on that!
So, hope this helped!