Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven. Eleven bathroom passes today! I’m so hydrated! Let’s get twelve tomorrow! I’m drinking so much water, at least five bottles during the school day. I’m running five days a week and playing tennis for four, all in the middle of cross country season. I’m staying healthy, right? How can drinking a lot of water mean something bad is happening? It can’t. Weeks later, after all the drinking and constant trips to the bathroom, things reach a point. I run a 5K with my mouth so dry it hurts. I collapse, trying to get to my half-full, lukewarm water bottle. At tennis practice, I cannot go more than 20 minutes without feeling like my bladder is going to burst. I call my parents and we Google what this might mean, because I finally realize something is wrong. With contradicting answers, we call the doctor and are told to rush to the ER. I am moved to the front of the line and after explaining my symptoms, the word diabetes immediately comes up. I must have misheard. It cannot be that. I do not even eat that much sugar. Now it is test time. They wipe my finger, prick it, and try to get a reading. Error. Again. Error. A third machine finally works. It reads “High.” Not just high, a number beyond what the meter can measure. Normal is around 100 mg/dL. Mine is over 600. Within minutes, I am rushed back, hooked up to an IV, and told I have Type 1 diabetes. My head feels empty at first, then everything hits at once. As the hours pass, my head fills with questions. Insulin? What does it actually do? Blood sugar goes up after carbs, right? Will I always feel like this? Can I still play sports? Months and years later, it has, but not in the way I expected. “Hydration,” “Nutrition,” “Fuel,” and “Energy” are now words I think about every day. I have educated myself on diabetes and how food interacts with my body. I am disciplined with insulin and monitoring my A1C. I track what I eat and understand how it affects me. That same attention carries into my sports. I have tested ways to fuel during practices and meets, figuring out what works and how timing and insulin affect performance. Diabetes is still frustrating. There are moments that feel out of my control, like when my monitor goes off during a test or when I have to step away from a match I am winning because my blood sugar spikes. But those moments have forced me to stay composed and keep going. This experience has also changed how I see my future. Managing diabetes has shown me how expensive and complicated care can be. Insulin, glucose monitors, and treatment are not optional, yet they are not always accessible. Because of that, I want to combine biology and economics and work on the financial side of healthcare. I want to help lower the cost of essential supplies and improve how care is delivered, especially in endocrinology. That could mean more support staff like nurses, better education for newly diagnosed patients, or more funding toward diabetes research. Diabetes changed the scope of my life. Never did I ever think I'd go into anything medical related but now it's became the one life goal of mine. It has impacted me from the second I was diagnosed to me now entering college to eventually my future career 50 years later. Diabetes is now a part of me and I truly can't imagine life without it. :)

Once I was diagnosed with diabetes freshman year of high school, I knew that the life sciences and healthcare fields were the ones I wanted to be a part of. Funny enough, just a week before I was sent to the ER because of my extreme symptoms, we were learning about diabetes in my 9th grade biology class. That week I was fascinated with how it works, not even knowing that it’d be a part of me for the rest of my life. Two years later I took AP Biology with that same teacher and we dove even further into biology and the sciences, and even took a greater dive into diabetes. It was really cool to learn specifics like how insulin is a ligand in our signal transduction unit. Living with diabetes has impacted me a lot. It takes up time, energy, and focus, constantly checking my numbers and giving insulin shots. However, the main influence diabetes has had on me has been positive. All those shots, tests, and corrections have given me much more discipline than I’ve ever had. It transferred over to my nutrition where I was careful with what I was eating every day. It transferred to school and improved my study habits. It transferred over to tennis, where I was more diligent than ever of trying as hard as I can in practice and in tournaments. With that greater discipline added onto my life, there definitely are setbacks. Playing tennis with diabetes is hard. Every changeover I have to check my number and adjust, trying to keep it in that sweet spot of 150-200. As much as I try my best, it doesn’t always go as planned. It’s now been 3 USTA tournaments that I’ve had to withdraw from during the match because of an extremely high blood sugar, where once I almost collapsed. That on top of the times I’ve had to explain to umpires why I need to have my watch on, or why I have to eat something gets annoying. I’ve had my devices fall off during school multiple times. I’ve had alarms go off during tests with me being embarrassed to admit it was from high glucose levels. One time in particular, my blood sugar was below 40 in my statistics class and I could barely murmur words. Luckily I was able to make it down to the nurse in time but that was the closest I’ve been to passing out. What helps keep me grounded is confidence and self-love. Telling myself that I'm doing a good job, and that things like this will happen from time to time keep me in a good state. The more I remind myself that diabetes is a part of me, the more I can embrace this part of who I am. One meaningful contribution I could make to the diabetes community would be the invention of a device that helps us wake up during the night in events of low or high glucose levels. Personally, I’m a very deep sleeper and I can rarely wake up to alarms. I’ve already been working on developing a device called GluSense that is a wearable ring. The ring will have a quick shock to the person's finger to alert them to wake up. I have pitched my idea to an entrepreneurship competition once, and I hope to continue in the future to make GluSense a real thing. With this scholarship, this can support myself and also the future of GluSense and help make waking up to glucose levels much easier in the future. Thank you!

Ever since I was a kid, I was surrounded by entrepreneurs in my family. My grandpop owned a painting and roofing business, my other grandpop ran his own real estate business, and my moms built their restaurant from the ground up after opening and closing five before one finally succeeded. Because of that, I plan to study business, with a focus on entrepreneurship and possibly economics, in higher education. I am especially interested in how businesses operate, grow, and create value, not just financially but within their communities. Seeing firsthand how much effort and strategy goes into building something from nothing made me want to understand it on a deeper level and pursue it as a career just like my mom's have been doing for years. My own entrepreneurial journey started when I was 10 years old. I began by making popsicles, testing recipe after recipe until I got them right. Eventually, I expanded into ice cream and created “Keane’s Creamery.” What started as a small setup quickly grew into something much bigger. I upgraded my equipment, experimented with flavors, researched storage methods, and tracked every cost on an Excel sheet. Over time, I made over $1000 in profit and even bought my own ice cream cart to sell around my neighborhood. In high school, I continued that passion by starting a tennis racquet stringing business. I invested my own money into a professional machine and materials, and I built a system that was both affordable and efficient. While most places charged between $30 and $60 and took days, I charged $10 and usually finished the same day. I also took time to explain string options to players who were unfamiliar. While I made decent profits, what mattered most to me was helping my teammates and community. I have chosen an entrepreneurial career because I enjoy being creative and providing value to others. Whether it was ice cream or racquet stringing, I found the most satisfaction not in making money, but more so in seeing people benefit from what I created. The other big thing is that I can be my own boss which is kinda amazing! I believe I will be successful in my business endeavors because I have already experienced owning a couple business of my own. My Ice cream business and tennis stringing business are surprisingly similar. They both have the "Core" concept which is making ice cream or re-stringing a tennis racquet. However, just doing that is far from enough. Learning about all the different types of strings, thicknesses, and elasticities was essential for me to stand out and do more that just the basic level. For ice cream, I couldn't just make vanilla all the time. I had to try flavor after flavor and eventually branch out to sorbet and ice cream sandwiches. Although I've only experienced it on a smaller scale, I believe my experience in these businesses will help me successful amongst the rest. To me, a successful life is not defined by just money. Like I talked about earlier, I think its about building something meaningful and helping others first. I want to create businesses that not only succeed financially, but also have a positive impact on the people around me. If I can continue doing that, I will consider myself successful, even more successful if I have $100,000 v.s $5,000,000 in my bank account if that $100,000 helped others along the way. Thank you for reading my essay!

Hello, my name is Keane Dougherty. A little about me is i'm obsessed with everything tennis. I play tennis almost every day of the year. I teach kids tennis during breaks and over the summer, and I even learned how to string my own tennis racquets! Besides that I love other athletics, like cross country and snowboarding. My other hobby of mine is ice cream making, where i've made at least 20 different flavors, and even ran a small business selling it a few years ago. I also love science, shoutout Mrs. Ricci for helping me find that passion! Cheltenham is truly a special place for me. I've met so many amazing friends, teachers, and people who've helped me so much over these 4 years, and throughout that time I did my best to give back and help others. The tennis team is especially important at Cheltenham for me. When I arrived freshman year, we had 10 seniors on the team and at first, I was intimidated! However, just a few days later I became friends with almost all of them. They shared their tips for how to do well in school and would sometimes talk with me about what's going on in their life. Now as a senior, I try to give that same support to the freshmen this year, all 17 of them. Every day at the start and end of practice, me and my fellow captains lead a team stretch for warm-up and cool downs. We huddle in for every match, and give a speech to encourage the team. Earlier today, one of my teammates who I was supposed to hit with wasn't there. Our Coach let me choose what I wanted to do, whether that just be practicing serves by myself or helping the JV players improve. Without hesitation, I said I'd love to coach and help them out, and that hour was one of the best feelings of my life. We did drills, live ball rallies, and a fun group game at the end called "Olympics", and throughout the entire time I saw everyone laughing, having fun, and even had a few of my teammates come up and ask me for advice, which I gladly shared! Beyond sports, I did my best to help out all of my friends with anything they needed help with. During college application season, I would receive texts and calls from my friends asking questions like "when's the FASFA due" to "how do I request a letter of recommendation". Every time I would help out my friends with the process that I was lucky enough to understand before most others, and that feeling was priceless. Beyond the tennis team and friends I knew personally, I always made an effort to be positive and thankful to every person at Cheltenham whether they were the first time I met them or my teacher who I see every day. Every time in class I always paid attention, asked questions, and would say "thank you" to my teachers at the end of class. Every time I walked off that bus, I would thank the bus driver. Every time the cafeteria lady came over with the trash can, I would thank her. Every time I signed in for school, I would greet the person at the front desk. At Cheltenham, everyone here is so special to me. From the 3 hour long phone calls with my best friend about a struggle of theirs to a simple "thank you", every moment was special, and makes me proud to call cheltenham a 2nd home of mine.

Being a member of the disabled community has changed my perception of life. Before my diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes, I moved through life assuming that if someone worked hard enough, things would fall into place. I believed effort was the main determinant of results. I saw healthcare as something you only interacted with occasionally, and disabilities affected other people. That changed the day my glucose meter read “High,” meaning too high to measure, with a blood sugar level above 600 mg/dL. In the months that followed, numbers became my world. I learned how many carbs are in an apple (about 25 grams), three-quarters of a cup of rice (around 37), and a bagel (65). I tracked my numbers, insulin levels, and how I felt. Sometimes my CGM would blare in the middle of a history test, and I could feel everyone staring. When my blood sugar spiked, I had to step away from tennis matches I was winning. It was the first time I understood what it felt like for something invisible to dictate my day. That awareness changed the way I see other people. I began noticing things I had never paid attention to before: the extra time someone might need to move through a hallway, the frustration behind a classmate’s quiet demeanor, the courage it takes to ask for accommodations. I realized how many people are managing challenges you cannot see. Diabetes showed me that many people are dealing with visible or invisible challenges like I am. It has given me more empathy for those around me and a greater willingness to understand others. Diabetes also introduced me to a community I didn't know I needed. I have started conversations with strangers after noticing an insulin pump clipped to their waistband or a Dexcom on their arm. I once met a little girl at the zoo who pointed to my monitor and smiled because she had one too. In those moments, I understood how powerful representation can be. Just wearing my device openly can make someone else feel less alone and more relatable. However, empathy alone is not enough. When I saw the prices of insulin, sensors, Omnipods, and routine endocrinology visits, I realized disability is not just medical but economic. Many families are forced to ration supplies or choose between groceries and medication, and although I did not face it severely, the cost of diabetes took a toll on my family. When I was younger, I dreamed of becoming a CEO or running a company for the lifestyle it promised. I still want to lead, but now I want leadership to change and make the system more affordable for people like us. In the future, I hope to work on the financial and operational side of healthcare to fight for lower costs for diabetics and others with disabilities. I want to push for transparent pricing, stronger insurance accountability, and increased funding for research and patient education. I also want to expand endocrinology departments, add more diabetes educators and nurses, and create structured education programs so newly diagnosed families do not leave the hospital feeling overwhelmed like mine once did. Being part of the disabled community has taught me that the world is not built equally for everyone. It has also shown me that when people who understand the struggle step into positions of influence, they can create meaningful change. Diabetes has made me disciplined and resilient, but more importantly, it has made me aware. And that awareness is what I will carry forward to make healthcare more affordable, accessible, and humane for the next generation.

The funniest person I’ve ever known was my grand pop, whom I also lost recently. My twin brother and I spent a lot of our childhood stuck at our parents’ restaurant while they worked long hours. While other kids were at home watching TV, we were doing homework in the downstairs office and inventing games out of whatever was around us. But whenever Pop came by to visit, we never got bored, and we loved goofing around. One of our favorite games involved balancing spoons on our noses to see who could keep them there the longest. This competition usually lasted far longer than it should have, mostly because Pop, my brother, and I all had impressively large noses. I’ve always credited Pop for passing that trait down to me. Somehow, despite age clearly not being on his side, Pop always won. Then came the Oreos. We’d place one on the tops of our foreheads and race to get it down into our mouths without using our hands. There was a lot of head tilting, squinting, weird noise making and laughing so hard that the Oreo would fall off anyway. Once again, Pop almost always won, which made it even funnier, and more frustrating, for my brother and me. And when Oreos weren’t available, we just used quarters: slightly less edible, and a whole lot harder! At Pop’s house in Delaware, my brother and I would put a quarter in the fridge before going to bed. By morning, the quarter would be gone and replaced with two quarters. Like the tooth fairy, but colder. When we tried the same trick at home and it never worked, Pop convinced us that the “coin fairy” only lived in Delaware. We believed him for far longer than we should have. My favorite memory of Pop, though, involved what we called “bubbles.” At our parents’ restaurant, the three of us would sneak into the bathroom, pump an unreasonable amount of soap into our hands, and then blast the hand dryer. In seconds, the room would turn into a bubble bath. Foam covered the mirrors, the sinks, and our faces. When my parents discovered the disaster, they were not nearly as amused as we were, and we would reluctantly clean it all up. Looking back, none of these games were complicated or expensive. They were silly, messy, and completely unnecessary, which was exactly what we loved about them. Pop taught me that laughter doesn’t need a reason and that joy can be found in the smallest things. Even now, when I make dad jokes or laugh at the silliest things, I know I can credit all of that to Pop.