When I began to think about how to reply to this prompt, I had a difficult time thinking of an angle. I considered writing about telling kids I was a robot when they would ask me about the glucose monitor on my arm, or about having to leave the football field to eat a snack because my sugar was dropping quickly and diabetes doesn’t care that it’s a playoff game. I thought about writing about being embarrassed when my insulin pump beeped during a calculus exam, worried that I was distracting others in the silent room. I thought of several examples of how diabetes got in the way of daily life. But while each of these examples happened, they happened and life went on. Living with type 1 diabetes means constant monitoring, constant questioning, constant explaining. I read somewhere that type 1 diabetics make hundreds of decisions more each day than a non type 1 individual. I am in no way downplaying the impact of type 1 on my daily life. However, I think the manner in which my experience with diabetes has most shaped me can be summed up into one word: Resilience. I have learned that I can get through anything, and achieve any goal, by being resilient. Since my diagnosis at age 9, I have been on a competitive swim team, I have been the boys’ gymnastics state vault champion two years in a row for level 4 vault, I have been awarded the Disney Dreamer and Doer award; I have played 4 years of varsity football, being named Second Team All Metro Center two years in a row. I have been a part of the Fellowship for Christian Athletes, Best Buddies and Spike Ball clubs. I have been inducted into the National Honor Society and National Science Honor Society. I have worked part time all four years of high school, and completed two internships too. And through it all, diabetes has come along for the ride, like a program running in the background of a computer. This fall, I will continue to achieve my goals while I move 3,000 miles away from my family to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to study civil engineering and quantum computing. I will play football for the RPI Engineers. I will work, join clubs, participate in events and internships. Type 1 diabetes will be there, always along for the ride - but while diabetes may sometimes slow me down, it wll never stop me from achieving my goals. I thank my experience with T1D for teaching me resiliency, because this is a skill that will get me far in college and beyond.