My early years of high school were not great, my family was still recovering from a house fire, and other family issues at home made my grades tank from being a straight A student to having Cs in several classes. I remember thinking at the time that there was no way I was going to make it through high school. Writing this now, as a high school senior about to graduate with an honors diploma and as a member of my school's National Honor Society, I wish I could tell my younger self how much better it gets. Some of this recovery is owed to my teachers, who were generally very understanding if I was struggling, and encouraged me to keep trying. They helped when my family couldn’t, and kept having faith in me even when I had little to no faith in myself. They were patient with me my sophomore year when I couldn’t stand without passing out, gave me time to finish my math tests outside of the period when I couldn’t get them done in time, even though they didn’t have to, and our office staff took me in as an aid so I had a quieter place to work in in comparison to the cafeteria for study hall. I adore my teachers dearly, and they don’t realize how much of an impact their empathy had on a student who was struggling. My home life improved, in part due to some of my family going to therapy, and my father getting sober from alcohol. With the improvement at home, my grades went up as well. I got a job just before the start of my junior year, which helped me make friends. I also got inducted into NHS during my junior year. I am genuinely so proud of myself, but these accomplishments are not something I will ever claim to have done alone. My family, teachers, and friends' support helped so much, and I am so grateful to them My current plan is to attend Denison University and earn my degree in Communications. I hope to use this degree to go into philanthropy and fundraising for STEM projects and Oceanic research. I love the ocean and wildlife, and I want to ensure that those researching or studying them have the proper support and funding to do so to the fullest extent. Oceanic research leads to new species discoveries, the possibility for new medicines, environmental effects, and so much more. I also hope that I can help advocate for type one diabetes research, as I myself am a type one diabetic, and to have more people aware of what that means, and how to help those who have it would be amazing. The last few years of elementary school after I was diagnosed were awful, because I had teachers who didn’t understand what my diagnosis meant for my schooling. I want to see if there’s a way to implement a program where teachers can learn about type one diabetes, and what that means for students diagnosed with it. Depending on my career, I also want to help fund my younger brother’s college. He’s five years younger than I am, and he’s my world. I spent a large chunk of my childhood taking care of him while our parents were away for work or other reasons, and I want to make sure he has every possible support to succeed. I also hope to have enough money to be able to donate back to my local theater and performing arts center. It was such a large part of my life for several years, and I know I wouldn’t be who I am now if it weren’t for their support of me at the time. Both my brother and my younger cousin started performing there after I did, and I hope that more kids get involved with theater, as the program is kind and encouraging. To be able to give back for what they did for me would be amazing. Overall, I just want to be able to give back to those who supported me, support the things that matter to me, and increase knowledge and support for the ocean, theater, type one diabetics, and whatever else comes up that needs support. It was their support, from my school, theater, and others that kept me afloat. My education, and the people around me helped me get to where I am today, and I want to do whatever I can to return that favor.

I was diagnosed as a type one diabetic on March 7th, 2018, at the age of nine. I had no idea what that meant, only that it was why I had felt so awful for the previous two months, and that it was why I had lost fifteen pounds since Christmas. I spent a week in the hospital, and listened to a dietitian tell my mom to stop making homemade food, since it would be easier to count carbohydrates with pre-packaged food. I vividly remember being upset with those words, because after a week of hospital food and confusion, all I wanted was to go home and eat, as I felt like I was starving— because I was. I remember getting in the car on the way home, I remember only seven months later when my mom had to call and argue with the insurance to get them to send new supplies after my childhood home burnt down. I remember the burn of the long-acting insulin shots before bed, I remember getting my first CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor), and my first insulin pump. And more recently, I remember excitedly going to the store with my mom to get a diabetic Barbie. Diabetes has impacted every aspect of my life for 8 years now, from changing what milk I drink to avoid blood sugar spikes, to making friends by having them defend me against teachers who didn’t understand my condition. I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve explained Type One Diabetes to, and how many comments I’ve received in passing about my insulin pump and CGM. However, despite my lost count, I’m still just as happy to go over these things every time, whether that be to a friend looking to understand, or to the little boy in the mall who asked if I was part robot because of my CGM. Type One has been the longest ongoing lesson of resilience in my life, and I refuse to let it keep me from the things I love and enjoy. I participate in my local and school theater program, and I adore the directors who have cast me in major roles and upfront scenes, even in shows where my insulin pump and CGM were “clashing” with the time period. I hold my friends from theater and stage managers in high respect for them checking in on my blood sugars during show nights and rehearsals, and giving me grace if I had to pause to take care of something. I’ve learned to manage completely on my own since I was diagnosed as a kid, I have forms filed and submitted to my college to let them know of my condition, and I know my future employer will need to know as well. My hope for the future is that a cure is found, though I happily accept every technological advancement made to make life easier until then. I look forward to college and the life ahead of me, a future that nine-year-old me was certain could not be when she was first being diagnosed.

I was nine when I was diagnosed as a type one diabetic, two months of barely eating, of constant headaches, of my own mother, a nurse, telling me on the way to that fateful doctors appointment that it was “nothing to miss school over”. I spent a week in the hospital, only after being transferred twice due to the first two hospitals not having the proper supplies. I was the first, as so far only, person in my family to be a Type One Diabetic. I didn’t even know what that meant at the time, just that when I wanted to eat, the nurses had to give me a shot, that everyone kept insisting that I drink more water. One week spent in the hospital, two doctors explaining what my diagnosis meant, a dietician who told my mother to stop making homemade foods, and a lot of very kind nurses later, I was discharged. Told that I was lucky. That most children come in already in a diabetic coma. I remember going back to school, sitting with my mom as she explained to my teachers and classmates what exactly happened, and why I was gone. I remember being told at lunch by a classmate that he didn’t understand how I was diabetic, because I “wasn’t fat”. I remember being asked by kids my age if my insulin pump was a smoking patch. It’s been eight years since then. No longer do I deal with silly comments from confused elementary school kids, but a lot of that weight sticks to me. Every new teacher that I have to go and speak with to explain my condition, every new friend that comes with an hour long explanation of what Type One is, how it works, how it’s different than the type of diabetes that they make jokes about. Of already having reached out to my future college to make sure that I get the necessary paperwork turned in for accommodations. Every year, the number of kids diagnosed with Type One Diabetes increases by two percent. I remember how scared and confused I was back then, and I feel it’s important to try and find a cure, or at least increase public knowledge and information about the condition. Type One is chronic, it will not go away, and I’ll live with it the rest of my life. I plan on going into philanthropy, I want to help fundraise for STEM and research projects, diabetic research included. The more people I can reach and help, the better.

Throughout my life, finding myself in the media I enjoy has never been easy. As a kid, it was rare to see a gay, or more specifically, lesbian character, and even harder to find an autistic character who was also queer. I clung to characters who were unspecified, Merida from Brave, as one of the only princesses who didn’t end up married to a man by the end of her movie. These struggles were only amplified by my location, a small, rural town, which made it hard to find others like myself. It felt so isolating, there was no one like me around, and there was no one like me on the TV screen or in books. Around eighth grade was when I finally grew tired of searching, and I started writing on my own. I would project my experiences into my writing as a way to cope. I wrote many stories with tales of siblings as I raised my little brother, survivors of house fires, and characters struggling with homelessness or runaways. These stories and characters gave life to my issues, allowed me to cope and heal. Writing didn’t just help me to cope, it gave me a connection to the community. Online, I met other young writers with whom I started co-authoring small stories, and I found my love for working with others in writing. Having someone to share the process with, a character that was not my own to explore, it was amazing. It sparked my love of writing and gave me people to share my work with. Many of these simple stories I started years ago are still going. I’m working to rewrite several and improve upon the simpler ideas I had before. I’m posting my works online as well, though it’s nowhere near a full publication, it feels nice to share my writing and ideas. Admittedly, the majority of my own works do focus on lesbian relationships, though I do try my best to include other identities and sexualities as well. I also draw a lot of the characters from my stories, and I try to make my casts diverse. I want as many people as possible to be able to connect to my writing. Simple and unofficial as they are, I hope that my writing, and my friends' writing, encourage other young queer folk to write, or give them the confidence to post their own works. Though queer media is more common now, I feel that there can always be more, especially with how some people and companies try to hide queer shows, movies, and books. Being queer is not something shameful, and it shouldn’t be an impossible quest to try to find oneself in the media. I’m excited to see how college will improve my writing skills, and I hope to eventually publish my stories properly, so that they’re easier to find for those who need them. So that there’s not some young girl in a small town thinking she’s the only one of her kind, ever again.

Sabrina Carpenter’s music was first introduced to me by a friend. Music has always been a significant point of connection for me, and she became a pillar of it. While many lyrics are not something I can specifically relate to as a lesbian, seeing my friends belt along, and singing along with them anyway, meant the world to me. Having an easier point of connection, especially as a young woman with autism, is amazing. I find Sabrina’s music videos and outfits to be awe inspiring, the care that goes into the designs, the different colors, the special patterned body suits for different areas while on tour, even into having fun shaped microphones, is a level of detail that I adore seeing from someone so popular and influential. Being someone interested in sewing, art, and design, knowing the care that must’ve gone into making these things come to is very inspiring. Sabrina’s career did more than just allow me to add a few new songs to my playlists, it made it easier to connect with new friends over a shared interest, and allowed me to make new friends where I may have struggled to without her music as a connection point. That fact means the world to me, knowing that some of my best friends were made in thanks to her and her music.

I have always wanted to help with ocean research, my interest in the ocean stems from my overall interest in nature that started when I was young. As a child, I would wake up at 6 AM, and ask my dad to change the channel over from the news so I could watch Octonauts and Wild Kratts, two kids shows on PBS that centered around learning about animals and nature. Now, as a teen about to go into college, I still hold that interest in nature, and specifically in the ocean. However, living in Ohio, a state landlocked aside from Lake Erie, does leave the ocean feeling quite far out of my reach. As does my severe adversity to blood and dissections pushing away marine biology as a possible degree. So, I chose to pivot to where I felt my skills could be used to support that field instead. I plan to get my degree in Communications, with a minor in Writing, from Denison University. Both my college and degree were chosen with this interest in mind. I want to use my communications degree to work in philanthropy, and help those who do have the ability to do marine research get the funding they need to do so. I intend to minor in writing so I can help with grant writing applications, and the reason I chose Denison is due to the schools small student population and their endowment. A small student population means that, if necessary, I have the ability to get support easier, and if I wish to go on an marine research opportunity, I won’t “steal” a spot from another student. The schools endowment also means that if I get the opportunity for an internship, the school has the ability to pay me for it if the internship is unpaid, leaving less stress about costs and money issues. In addition, my knowledge on marine biology will make it easier for me to connect with those who may want to help support or fund these research expeditions and STEM projects. Being knowledgeable in the field you’re trying to gain funding for is important, but it’s even better if you have a passion for it. I believe people can tell the difference between just knowing something and genuinely caring about it, and I plan to use my care and passion for the marine biology field to ensure that those in it are supported as best as possible.

To an outsider, it may seem odd for a student with autism and ADD to plan to go into communications, a notable struggle for people with these diagnoses, however, I believe that my different way of communicating gives me an edge, not a disadvantage. While communication has not always been easy for me, time and practice has made it significantly easier for me to communicate with those around me. I connect easily with others, as I do enjoy speaking with and learning about different people and their lives. It is this that I intend to capitalize on. I have a lot to say, and I recognize that others do too. Being able to both talk on my own, and truly listen to others is what I believe makes me different than a student going into communications who does not have autism. I find it easier to make genuine connections with people who I talk to, and speaking with different age groups is not something that bothers me. I’ve worked with children at birthday parties and events, to older adults at my mother’s work during community events, I believe that there is always something you can bond with someone over. No matter the persons age. In addition, I find that writing comes as easily as speaking for me. I plan to use this in the philanthropy field to apply for grants and reach out to those who may be interested in funding STEM and research projects. Public speaking does not bother me either, as I believe that my time performing in theater has made this easier for me. I have no trouble singing or performing a Shakespearean monologue to a crowd, so giving a speech falls into the same category with ease. I know many friends who have the passion to do wonderful research, but they struggle with writing and explaining why said research is so important to them. This is where I plan to bridge the gap with my communications degree. I want to be able to support others in their goals and passions, as many have supported me in mine. While I am different, it’s a difference that works to my advantage because I know how to work with it, not against it. To be able to support and uplift those who do not have those same skills would be amazing, and it’s exactly what I intend to do.

The high school teacher who has impacted me the most is my science teacher, Mrs. Castner. I first had her as a teacher in my junior year. My freshman and sophomore years of school had been okay academically, but rough back at home. I distinctly remember feeling that her classroom was a comfortable space. She had snacks, brought my class Valentine's, and was patient and understanding if I fell behind on a project. I will be the first to admit that I am easily overwhelmed when it comes to sound and the people around me. While not my peer's fault, she always did her best to ensure that it was quiet enough in her room for me to be comfortable. And when things did occasionally become too much, Mrs. Castner was always very understanding when I would step out of the room to catch my breath and calm down, even telling me not to apologize when I stayed behind after class to do so, having assumed that I upset her by stepping out. While likely a small thing to her, her understanding means the world to me, and to other students like me. Not being shamed or yelled at for getting overwhelmed or falling behind makes it so much easier to get things done again. To catch up or calm down. If there were days when my group was too much, she would let me work on the lab alone, even if it meant getting out another set of supplies. She was the teacher I reached out to for a recommendation letter, as I knew she had seen the most authentic version of me. She warns me ahead of time if labs will be particularly loud, and plans to bring me in for one of her chemistry classes when she does her fire lab again this year, as it was my favorite of our experiments last year. She genuinely cares, and, though she does not have to, is bringing me back to that chemistry class simply because the experiment was fun, and it made me happy, and she enjoys seeing her students genuinely happy and excited. This is now my second year with her as my teacher, and I cannot overstate how much I look forward to her class. In part due to the fun experiments we do, but more so because of her. Because of her kindness, patience, and understanding towards me.

One of the most important connections in my life is with my little brother. He’s five years younger than me, and he built a lot of who I am today. I was eleven at the start of the COVID pandemic, my mother was a nurse, and lived separately from the rest of our family to avoid getting us sick, while my father spent most of his time working on rebuilding our house, which had burnt down two years prior. This left me in charge of my brother, who was six at the time. I had no idea how to raise him, but even then, I knew I had to try. I did my best to make sure he was alright. I made sure he ate, changed clothes, did his schoolwork, and went to bed. I wrote little notes for my dad to make sure that when he came back inside the camper we lived in at the time, he knew that me and my brother were fed and taken care of. This dynamic lasted for three years. I will never claim to have done a perfect job raising my brother, I was a kid myself, but seeing him grow up profoundly impacts my way of thinking. I spend a lot of time worrying about him, and this now extends to my friends as well. Raising my brother forced me to learn to understand why he reacted the way he did at times. It gave me a better understanding of emotions, and why people sometimes react the way they do. Now, with both me and my brother being older, it’s a bit more of an even exchange. Of course, it’s still a bit more of me taking care of him, but I can tell that he tries to return the favor. He’ll spend points he earns in class to get both of us candy, rather than getting one larger thing for himself, he does his best to check on me when he thinks I’m upset, and he tells me fun facts about both his interests, and interests of mine. It’s because of him that I connect with people the way I do now. A lot of what he learned is from me. I share fun facts, I bring my friends snacks, and I’m always checking up to make sure they’re okay. I know that without him, I’d think differently, I would understand less about emotions and reactions. It’s very rare that we fight, and when we do, I feel terribly guilty, and usually end up apologizing within the hour. Of course, we’re still siblings, he’s a young boy, still learning when to push and annoy and when to stop, but I can never stay mad at him for it. He’s still learning, and I know it’s me he feels safest to test these things with. As annoyed as I may be at the time, it does warm me to know he feels safest with me. He’s just as important to me as I am to him, and that makes a world of difference in our relationship as siblings

The movie that I feel has had the greatest impact on my life is Brave. A childhood favorite, but it was the first place I actually felt as though I saw myself and my qualities represented in a good light. A young girl with a fiery will, and curly red hair. A girl whose attitude, despite being deemed as “odd” or wrong, was still just as strong. Factors all amplified by the fact that she had no prince, no knight in shining armor, or love interest who saved the day. Merida was the brave one, the one driving the story, and trying to fix her mistakes. I loved Merida more than I could express as a child, she’s who I was for Halloween, and I forced my family to watch the movie so many times. I firmly believe that a decent chunk of my current self-confidence and will stems from feeling like I had a princess who represented me. I don’t always fit in, I have odd interests, and I tend to miss certain cues in conversations, but I thrive on stage and in theater. Though it may seem superficial, the fact that Merida has such wild curly hair is so important. At the time, there weren’t really any princesses with curls, and as a kid with wild hair, seeing it shown as a good thing, as an extension of her personality, made me proud of my hair. Proud to be me. “Merida” became a nickname for me from my father, an affectionate thing. I think I’ve always tried to emulate her. Her care for her brothers, and the fact that when it came to it, I raised my little brother. Merida’s will to not bend and not be pushed around became my will to stay true to myself. To stand up for what I feel, and what I believe in, even if it’s not conventional. To have a movie show that it’s not uncommon to clash with parents, and event to show that it’s okay for that to happen, made it much easier for me to rationalize certain arguments with my parents, and made communicating with them easier. Seeing that yes, kids make mistakes, yes, parents make mistakes, is what helped me understand my family at times. I cannot overstate how much Brave meant to me as a kid, and how much it means to me now, especially as a teenager.

My name is Marlo, I’m seventeen, I enjoy theater, writing, and art. My current plan is to major in Communications and minor in writing. I want to use my skills with people and with writing to go into philanthropy, specifically to help fundraise for research projects that would otherwise be overlooked. I spent a lot of my childhood with my little brother, raising him. My mother was a nurse, and couldn’t live with us during covid, and at the time, my father was attempting to rebuild our house after it burnt down a year prior. I was only eleven, left with a five year old to look after, but I did my best to keep him happy and healthy. My brother finds interest in learning, he loves to share fun facts and little tid-bits he’s learned throughout the week. I want to be able to foster that in others. I believe there are a lot of students and scholars who have something specific they know is important to learn about, and I want to be able to get those people the money they need to do so. I specifically want to help with research projects because I myself have a handful of more “odd” or specific interests. I feel it is important to encourage those interests, as a lot of very important discoveries and revelations have come from people who had something specific they dedicated themselves to. Marine biologists who’ve discovered entirely new species because of their focus on the ocean, teens who discovered new planets thanks to their love for space. It matters deeply to me that these interests are supported to the best they possibly can be. I find that people with these specific dedications and interests can sometimes struggle to convey why these things are so important to them, I want to use my love for writing to help them convey the importance of their research. To help with their writing for the grant they need to get the funding, to be able to advocate for someone at a fundraiser, even if they themselves are too nervous to speak publicly. A lot of my goals stem originally from my little brother, he sometimes struggles to express himself, which I’ve done in the past, but thankfully, I can act as a sort of “translator” for him to be able to explain what he needs to. I want to ensure that everyone who needs a “translator”, so to speak, has one who genuinely cares and wants them to succeed.

My name is Marlo Clark, and I’m a senior currently attending Jefferson Area High School. I’m a part of my schools theater club, philanthropy club, and National Honors Society. Outside of school, I love to help out with children’s events- I do face paint for free at birthday parties, I love working with my local arts center to help with their youth productions, and I help out every year with different Christmas events at the local hospital. My current plans post-high school are to go to Denison University and major in communications. I want to go into the philanthropy field to help fundraise for research opportunities for other students. If I could start my own charity, I’d want it to go towards students with Type One Diabetes, or autism. I have both, and fitting in with peers has always been a bit of a struggle. I would want my volunteers to teach classes either on living with Type One, or to teach classes to non-autistic students and show easier ways to communicate and understand peers who may think differently than they do. Along with a twin class for those with autism, on social cues and things that they may not ever catch onto on their own. I would want to offer support to those with Type One who may experience diabetic burnout, to be able to send nurses or other diabetics who can help them keep up with their care until they’re back on their feet, as people growing tired of constantly dealing with diabetes, and by effect stopping their care, leads to significant impacts on their health in the long run. I was lucky enough to have my mother to help me when I was little, but there are people who don’t have that support system, and I would want my charity to be that safety net. To help people who may slip through the cracks. Additionally, I would love to have my charity have a sort of learn-and-share class for those with autism, for kids, adults, and teens to meet those around their age, and share their interests. My hope is that this will allow others to learn about new hobbies, and possibly even careers that may work well alongside their autism. I suggest this because my interest in theater is what spurred my little brother into doing theater as well, and I feel that theater has significantly improved both of our social lives. I would also want to offer support for parents, a lot of the time, I have to sort of “translate” for my younger brother, as I understand his struggles in places that don’t make sense to our parents. To be able to have volunteers, or other autistics, explain an issue that a child may not be able to properly express would be amazing, and my hope is, that it would save both parents and children from a lot of unnecessary stress. I understand that my plans are large, and in reality, would likely be very expensive to maintain, but I feel that everything I mentioned is deeply important, and would improve communities everywhere.

Service is often described as helping others, but to me, service is about more than just the act of giving, it’s about building a deeper connection with my community and those around me. The satisfaction of being able to help others and contribute to my community in a positive manner, no matter how small the change is. My past and current experiences in serving my community motivate me to continue doing so, and to try and encourage those around me to do the same. I often volunteer at my local theater, the Ashtabula Arts Center, for opportunities both on and off stage. The most memorable of these experiences is when I volunteered to help with a charity fundraiser they were hosting. Each volunteer was assigned a table upon arrival, and I was assigned to do face painting. I had never done face paint before, and I was nervous about it. I called over several friends to practice on, even my own mom, as I wanted to make sure that when people started showing up, my work wouldn’t disappoint them. Eventually kids began to line up at the table, and seeing each kid smile after seeing their face paint eased my initial nervousness. I even began to take special requests, instead of just options from the printed out booklet I had, as the kids always seemed so excited when it’s their own idea brought to life. From a girl who wanted herself as a fairy, to the little boy who specifically wanted a cicada, I couldn’t have been happier to follow their requests- especially the more “odd” ones. As a someone who has “odd” interests myself, to be able to encourage those interests for younger kids is so important. That day, I learned my love for bringing others joy, especially young kids. Since then, I’ve started doing face painting for parties, continued volunteering to dress up as an elf to help at Ashtabula Regional Medical Center’s Cookies and Milk with Santa party, and volunteering as an assistant in the youth productions at the Ashtabula Arts Center. I remember how happy I was as a kid when I would get my face painted, so to be able to return the favor now that I’m older is a wonderful feeling, and it’s amazing to see how excited the kids get, often running around to show their parents and other kids. It’s amazing to be a positive influence on others, and I plan to continue doing so in the future.

Service is often described as helping others, but to me, service is about more than just the act of giving, it’s about building a deeper connection with my community and those around me. The satisfaction of being able to help others and contribute to my community in a positive manner, no matter how small the change is. My past and current experiences in serving my community motivate me to continue doing so, and to try and encourage those around me to do the same. I often volunteer at my local theater, the Ashtabula Arts Center, for opportunities both on and off stage. The most memorable of these experiences is when I volunteered to help with a charity fundraiser they were hosting. Each volunteer was assigned a table upon arrival, and I was assigned to do face painting. I had never done face paint before, and I was nervous about it. I called over several friends to practice on, even my own mom, as I wanted to make sure that when people started showing up, my work wouldn’t disappoint them. Eventually kids began to line up at the table, and seeing each kid smile after seeing their face paint eased my initial nervousness. I even began to take special requests, instead of just options from the printed out booklet I had, as the kids always seemed so excited when it’s their own idea brought to life. A girl who wanted herself as a fairy, a girl who wanted a rainbow tiger, a boy who wanted a cicada- to be able to do those specific requests, especially as someone who has specific, sometimes “odd” interests, was amazing. That day, I learned my love for bringing others joy, especially young kids. Since then, I’ve started doing face painting for parties, continued volunteering to dress up with two friends to help at Ashtabula Regional Medical Center’s Cookies and Milk with Santa party, which is the picture attached below, and volunteering as an assistant in the youth productions at the Ashtabula Arts Center. I remember how happy I was as a kid when I would get my face painted, so to be able to return the favor now that I’m older is a wonderful feeling, and it’s amazing to see how excited the kids get, often running around to show their parents and other kids. It’s amazing to be a positive influence on others, and I plan to continue doing so in the future.

I thought I was going to die. I was nine when I was diagnosed as a Type One Diabetic, I had no idea what it meant- only that it was why I had been feeling so bad for the last two months. I remember crying to my grandparents when my mom said we were going back to the hospital, I didn’t understand what was happening, and I was terrified. The same year I was diagnosed, my house burnt down, and me and my mother spent a week fighting with insurance to get all the new supplies I needed. People at school, teachers even, didn’t understand anything about Type One, despite my mother’s attempts to explain, and a lot of activities ended up with me excluded, because the teachers didn’t understand. I remember being so angry with everyone, I couldn’t understand why this had to happen to me. No one else in my family is Type One. I hated the needles, I hated the pod changes, the finger pricks, the constant calculating of carbs, all of it made me angry. It’s been eight years since then, and I’ve learned to manage on my own. My blood sugar used to affect my school work a lot in the start, I’d drop or shoot up during tests, I’d have to sit out of gym for lows- now, I hardly notice an impact. My blood sugars are steady, steady enough that I’m hoping to join my schools new girls flag football team. I help out with our philanthropy club, student council, and National Honors Society. Though what I feel connects me the most is theater. Despite lows sometimes interfering, I’ve had wonderful directors who were willing to work with me so I could do theater and perform on stage. I’m particularly thankful for it, because my doing theater inspired my younger brother, and my little cousin to do theater as well. I believe it’s very important for Type One to not keep anyone from what they love, if thats a sport, theater, writing, robotics, anything. I thought when i was first diagnosed that it was the end of the world. Now, I go with my mom to the hospital she works at, we try to act as a guiding light to kids who’re newly diagnosed. I bring a diabetic Barbie for the younger girls who’re diagnosed, and my mom gets to speak with parents, she uses me as an example. A way to say “Look. This isn’t the end of the world.”, and I’m so happy I can be that person for newly diagnosed kids, to show that the future isn’t bleak, it’s hopeful.