At first, I didn’t fully understand what it meant to be a Type 1 diabetic. I just knew my life suddenly started to focus around checking numbers, giving myself shots, and being careful all the time. One night made it real for me. I woke up drenched in a cold sweat, shaky and confused, with my heart racing. My blood sugar was dangerously low. Moments like that are scary, especially when you’re a kid, and they never fully leave you. My mom had cancer before I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I was young, but I remember how heavy everything felt back then—doctor visits, long days, and the constant worry in our house. When she went into remission and was cancer free, it felt like we were finally supposed to get a break. A few years later, in fourth grade, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. It’s always just been my mom and me. After everything she went through with cancer, she learned and taught me how to manage my diabetes right alongside me. Even though she beat cancer, the financial recovery didn’t magically end. Diabetes added repeating permanent costs—insulin, supplies, and appointments that aren’t optional. Years later, I still struggle with managing it. Some days my blood sugar doesn’t want to go up or down no matter how careful I am. It makes being a teen and going through new experiences exhausting and frustrating. School, friends, dating, working, even driving are more difficult with a disability. It has also forced me to grow up early and take responsibility for myself. As a high school senior taking 15 classes some dual enrollment, including advanced courses like Engineering MATLAB and Calculus II, I've come to appreciate that formal education is just the foundation. The real learning begins when you apply these principles to solve real-world problems. Therefore, a commitment to lifelong learning is not just an advantage; it's a necessity. As far as my field of study in college comes from my Papa. I like computers because of my great-grandfather, my Papa. He was an amazing man—always kind unless you gave him a reason not to be, worked hard, and did his best to take care of his family. Even after he got a pacemaker, he kept going, but life got harder. I spent a lot of time helping him—setting up his TV, fixing his internet, just making things easier for him. Every time I helped, he would smile and thank me, and it made me realize how much a little knowledge about technology could really change someone’s day. Helping him taught me more than just computers. I learned patience, paying attention to details, and how much it matters to care about people’s frustrations, even the small ones. A simple fix on his screen could make him laugh or feel less stressed. That stuck with me. That’s why I love computers. I like building them, figuring out how they work, and making them do what people need them to do. It’s not just about the machines—it’s about helping people, like I did with my Papa. Even though he’s gone now, I carry those lessons with me. Computers became more than a hobby—they became a way to honor him. And every time I learn something new, I think about how I can use it to help someone else, just like I helped him. This scholarship would mean a lot to me because I have never won anything but Type 1 Diabetes and keeping my sugar in line is like nailing jello to a wall.