Grossmann 3 Grossmann Brianna
English 4
Mr. Romeis
Personal Statement
10 September 2013
Growing Up Different In 2005 I was just your average third-grader. Laughing and playing away. I had not a worry in the world. My perfect careless world slowly started crumbling down. I became sick all of the time, and soon I went to get things checked out. My mother and I went to the doctor’s office with no worries; we thought I just had a bladder infection or something along those lines. The outcome was the complete opposite, my life was changed forever. On May 2, 2005 I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. From the day the doctors diagnosed me, I had taken on an endless list of responsibilities. Responsibilities that no eight year old child should have to live with. My family and I were overwhelmed with information to keep me alive. Although my parents were a great helping hand, for me to continue to live the same life I had to learn a great deal of information. I went from being that careless young girl with not a worry in the world to controlling my blood sugars and injecting shots of insulin into myself. I used to wake up and brush my hair and teeth, now I wake up and prick my finger to test my blood sugar. Every time I eat I must count the carbohydrates, convert the carbs to units, and manually give myself a shot of insulin to stay alive. Growing up with diabetes has truly taught me a great amount of responsibility, in a way that only a diabetic would know. Every day I learn something new. Throughout the past nine years of living with diabetes I have faced quite a bit of challenges. When I was diagnosed I was told it may be difficult to continue to play sports, because it would be hard to manage my diabetes. In my mind I know that life brings struggles, life will throw you curves, and it will attempt to break you down. From the day I found out the struggles of living with diabetes, I decided I would never let my disease define me. I chose to live my life the way I wanted to and to never let diabetes break me down. Over the past nine years I have played nine seasons of volleyball three seasons of competitive dance, and three seasons of softball. I never let my disease stand in the way of what I wanted to do. I have not used diabetes as an excuse to not excel in all that I do. If anything growing up with diabetes has pushed me to show the world that I can do whatever I put my mind to on top of managing my diabetes. When I started at Liberty High School as a freshman, I was so focused on fitting in and being “cool” that I let my diabetes spiral out of control. Along with my diabetes being out of control I didn’t focus on my grades what so ever. Freshman year I made mistakes that could ruin my future. Once I realized how this could affect me, I decided I wasn’t going to stay down this path. I wanted to grow up to be healthy and I want to succeed in receiving a higher education. Entering my sophomore year I was determined to do better. I was playing on the junior varsity volleyball team and managed to have above a 3.0 GPA. During this season I experienced something that hurt me more than anything had before. The head coach told me that she didn’t think I was capable to play at the varsity level. I thought to myself why? She believed that I could not perform at this level because of my diabetes. The thing I hate the most is when someone tells me I