When I was eighteen, my pancreatic beta cells were destroyed by my immune system and I was diagnosed with type one diabetes. Growing up, I was aware of the disease because two of my aunts have type one diabetes. We knew to watch for the classic symptoms: extreme thirst and hunger, fatigue, frequent urination, and weight loss. As a teenager, preparing for prom, tennis tournaments, AP exams, and ultimately graduation and college, I was a professional at ignoring and justifying symptoms. However, the weight loss quickly became unjustifiable. We called my pediatrician and I ended up in a hospital bed, on an insulin drip. After a quick three days, I was discharged with samples of needles, a vial of insulin, and a glucose meter. I was terrified. My parents were terrified. I was starting college in two months and my first endocrinology appointment was not another month after that. How were we supposed to learn about and manage my new disease? My grandfather was waiting for us when I got home from the hospital. He pulled me to a corner of the kitchen and pointed to an outlet. He asked, “what is this?” I was confused and responded that it was an outlet. He instructed me to look closer and I realized that he was pointing to the reset button on the outlet. He looked me in the eyes and said “time to reset, you can do this.” While it was the biggest uphill battle of my life, in simple terms, I did it. I learned how to monitor my blood sugar, inject insulin, adjust treatment decisions depending on the day’s activities, transition to an insulin pump, and navigate complex insurance and pharmacy systems. Type one diabetes is exhausting, frustrating, and terrifying, but it also brings me so much joy and gratitude. If it were not for my diagnosis, I would not have found a true career calling. There was a shortage of endocrinologists when I was diagnosed. A pediatric endocrinologist would not see me because I was 18. This was frustrating because I still felt like a child and was in no way independent. The shove into the adult medical system helped me grow up, but also disappointed me. Patients are too often left on their own to teach themselves about complex conditions. I knew I needed to become a physician. In addition to gratitude for a clear career path, I also found a sense of community with other type one diabetics. Throughout college, I felt called to give back to my newfound community. I participated in a clinical trial as a patient. I joined JDRF, and ran in 5ks to fundraise. I became an undergraduate research intern under a pediatric endocrinologist. Our team’s goal was to improve management outcomes of adolescents with type one diabetes and figure out creative ways to motivate the same age group into taking ownership of their disease. I presented to the team about my diagnosis at the pivotal age of 18 and about what a day with diabetes consists of. This helped them put our research into a more personalized context. Another researcher and I led a project and wrote a paper about how teenagers feel about incorporating their diabetes diagnoses into their social media use. A wide range of responses were given in our survey - some feared others knowing they have diabetes and others used social media purely to educate their followers about their disease. I want to help my future patients learn about their conditions and feel confident in their ability to “reset” and take care of themselves.