I never would have thought that an autoimmune disease would be the main reason I am the person I am, but it is. I’m diabetic and have been since I was four and a half. This means all of my time in school, I have been a Type One Diabetic. Diabetes taught me to be confident, to grow, and to advocate for myself and others. I learned to advocate for myself when I was very young. I remember advocating for myself during recess when I felt funny. It was my responsibility to tell an adult when I felt high or low. I learned to be confident because many of my decisions were life and death, meaning I had to learn to make quick and confident decisions. I dealt with the stress of my decisions with jokes and humor. Many of my friends say humor is my most unique quality. My humor helps me communicate. After years of advocating for my physical health, I realized I needed to also advocate for my mental health; I therefore became an advocate for mental health. I realized I’m both gay and transgender. During my transition it was very difficult to manage my diabetes. I had to learn to be even more vocal regarding my blood sugars. Diabetes offered me a unique perspective. I realized from a young age, that change happens all the time. My blood sugar will never be the same everyday. I learned to strive for health not numbers. This helped me understand that it is only natural for ourselves to change. Some people change a little, some people become unrecognizable and that is okay. After years of advocating for myself, I began to advocate for others. I encouraged many friends to attend therapy and LGBTQ+ support groups. I started helping my friends send emails to administration and teachers for help and extensions on assignments. Later, I became a disability advocate for my high school. I helped normalize diabetes for underclassmen and normalized the use of 504 plans all together. I got the opportunity to help a newly diagnosed underclassmen. I’m trying to help him the best I can. I remind him to try new things even though they’re scary. I focus on the good part of diabetes: not everyone can sneak free snacks in the movies. Today, I’m working on understanding how diabetes has affected me. I realized that diabetes gave me nightmares, anxiety, and depression. I work with my therapist to help manage both my physical conditions and the mental ones diabetes has caused. I remind myself everyday that diabetes isn’t about perfection, it's about health. I work hard to have more good days than bad, and I work even harder to not beat myself up about the bad days. In the future, I hope to inspire other diabetics and LGBTQ+ members to join the Sciences. I hope to have a husband and foster children. I'm excited to work hard for my dreams and to overcome new challenges that I'm sure to face. Life isn't about being easy, it's about growing and I have lots of space to grow. Diabetes isn't my best friend, but it is something I have to live with. As much as my diabetes has hurt and frightened me, I have gained so much perspective, communication skills and confidence from it, that I wouldn't trade it for the world. I hope to help normalize diabetes and show people that diabetes doesn’t limit us; only our ambitions can.