She was "Emma, the ballet dancer". That was her whole identity — until her body said no. Twice.

Two torn ACLs. A spot at Boston Ballet's professional program. Her chance as a real ballerina lost in a single audition moment. Recovery alone at boarding school. And somewhere in all of that — the quiet, unexpected discovery of who she actually is beyond the thing that defined her.

In this honest and luminous conversation, Emma opens up about performing "I'm fine" for the world while falling apart behind closed doors, the loneliness of watching others do the thing you love, and how sitting still long enough finally taught her to listen to her own body for the first time.

She's not searching for the final answer of who she is. She just wants to keep searching.

For every teen who has poured everything into one identity a ...