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Pictures of the beautiful Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn adorn her bedroom wall. On the same wall, a pair of old, worn-down ballet slippers hopelessly hang. That is where this story begins. *Jane Smith a student here at PLU does not mind sharing her story of a battle many girls fight.
The summer after eighth grade Jane developed a disorder that put her life in danger. It started with her dance instructor encouraging her to lose some weight.
“She would say things to us like; be light on your feet you sound like elephants, and I wasn’t the only girl she drove to lose weight, there were others” Jane said.
Jane began unhealthy eating habits. Starting at only one hundred and nine pounds, Smith was convinced she should lose weight. She dropped to a low weight by that spring, ninety five pounds.
She went through everyday not eating breakfast, hardly ever eating lunch, and barely touching her dinner. All while lying to her mother about what she ate.
“I would pick something off of the school menu like chicken nuggets and just tell my mother that’s what I ate, so she wouldn’t find out,” said Jane.
Jane went to have a routine physical after these events took place and her doctor informed her that she was anorexic. She explains that the disorder was something like a contest for her and other girls she knew.
“Another girl I knew told me she was one hundred and three pounds and I thought to myself well I’m one hundred and five pounds and she is taller then me so I have to weigh less than she does. I had to be less than one hundred pounds in my mind and once I got there I thought well if I have gotten to here I can get to ninety five pounds and I did,” said Jane.
She continued to try and keep it from her mother, but soon her secret was out when a friend let it slip to her mother that Jane didn’t eat lunch ever.
Jane’s mother had a discussion with her dance instructor. She was then informed that if she didn’t gain weight she would be asked to leave the company. The problem now was that she did not want to gain any weight. Jane moved to a different company, but the new instructor was not happy with her weight and wanted her to lose more weight. This was not good for her and she ended up quitting dance and moved on with her life.
Jane’s battle with anorexia caused her to be at risk for hypoglycemia which resulted in multiple tests.
Now she is healthy, but it was a long road for her. She beat the disease by eating healthy and studying websites targeted for people with eating disorder. The websites offered confidence boosting by telling people they are beautiful just the way they are.
“I think I was very fortunate to have overcome this and I think it helped that they caught it early on,” says Jane.
Today she is at a healthy weight and looks as beautiful as the women hanging on her walls. Jane offers these words of encouragement that helped her beat her disorder, to those struggling with an eating disorder.
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent,” Eleanor Roosevelt.
Everyone out there is as beautiful as Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn, it is important to just believe it and don’t let anyone tell you any different.
