Hi, my name is Olivia, and I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes nine years ago, at the end of kindergarten. As a kid, it was hard for me to adjust to so many new things all at once, especially the stares. You never really get used to them; you just learn to deal with it and make the best out of something difficult.

What is challenging is school. It can be tough for anyone, and even more so for a newly diagnosed diabetic wandering the halls. Since I am entering my 10th year with diabetes and going into 10th grade, here are 10 things to remember when going to school as a diabetic:

1. Not everyone knows what diabetes is. So, if they stare at you while you give yourself insulin or check your blood sugar, it just means they’re curious.
2. You can never pack enough snacks. You’d rather have too much juice with you than be low. Trust me.
3. Make sure your teachers know that you’re diabetic. You should probably tell them on the first day. One year, I tried to get away with not telling any of them but quickly learned that if you don’t want to constantly be on the verge of detention because of alarms or looking at your phone, you should probably tell them all.
4. Also, make sure your friends know what to do if your blood sugar is high or low.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask to go to the nurse’s office. I’d rather be in the nurse’s office missing class and low but getting help than just sitting in class with a low/high blood sugar. It’s better to be with the nurse than with a bunch of kids who can’t really do anything for you.
6. When you ask to go to the nurse, you should also ask for someone to walk you down. One time, I was really low and forgot how to get to the nurse’s office. I don’t want that to happen again.
7. Diabetes is a rollercoaster. You will have days where your blood sugar is high or low, and it can be really annoying. But sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and learn to deal with it.
8. You can handle diabetes. We were given it because we can endure it and use it for good.
9. Everyone has something. This is YOUR something. It might seem like everyone else has a perfect life with nothing to deal with, but they don’t. We all have things we struggle with.
10. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. There are around 8 million people with Type 1 Diabetes out there. With that many people, you will definitely find at least one other diabetic out there.

To summarize, these are the 10 things you should know when going to school as a diabetic. Whether you’ve just been diagnosed or have had diabetes for a long time, remember that we can either let diabetes negatively affect us or let it have a lasting positive impact on our lives and others.