A Time For Dancing Conflict Paragraph

In A Time for Dancing, by Davida Wills Hurwin, a sixteen-year-old girl named Jules struggles with fighting cancer, which ultimately shatters her dream of becoming a professional dancer and changes her views of life. When she feels pain in her lower back and hip at her dance rehearsals, she ignores it, thinking the pain is from repeating the same dance moves. However, when the pain grows worse, she turns pale green and her parents bring her to the hospital where she is told she is diagnosed with cancer. When Jules hears the "C-word" (62) come out of her doctor's mouth, she knows that her life is going to change forever. Dealing with cancer causes Jules to suffer from both physical and emotional pain. Physically, she does not have enough strength to continue dancing because the pain in her back and hip is unbearable. After she receives chemotherapy, she is "unable to function for...days" (104), which leaves her exhausted, sleepy and unwilling to do anything. Being inactive affects her emotionally as well because dancing is her life. Since she is weak, she rarely goes out and she misses the holidays and important events that mean so much to her. When she begins to lose her hair due to chemotherapy, people begin to see her differently and constantly wear a fake smile when she is around, pretending there is nothing wrong with her. Emotionally she is hurt by this, but she stands strong and realizes who her true friends are. From this, she sees her social life in a different perspective and values the relationship she has with her best friend, Samantha, more than ever. Boyfriends and gossip no longer matter to her, and instead she looks at the larger picture of life where the only things that matter is dancing to the best of her ability and keeping the strong bond she has with her best friend. Jules fights against the pain and angst of cancer in order for her to fulfill her dream of dancing and live life to its fullest.