At the age of seventeen months, I was diagnosed with type I juvenile diabetes. For my parents, it felt like their world was ending. For me...well, I wasn't really aware of anything. So I grew up with diabetes. That was my "normal." I never knew anything else. That's not to say I didn't struggle with it--I still do. Always checking my blood sugar (though it's gotten easier with technological advancements like CGMs), carb counting, giving myself insulin shots (which also has gotten easier with the release of inhalable insulin), combating low blood sugar, wondering sometimes why my blood glucose is 250 mg/dl after exercising, and everything else only fellow diabetics know. But I've never given up on my dreams, and I've never let diabetes hold me back. I've managed to keep my A1C under 6.8%, and I've never gone back to the hospital after my initial diagnosis. With some diligence and perseverance, it IS possible to live a rewarding and fulfilling life with diabetes. The dragon may try to keep us down, but we must rise up and face it. With modern science, we have the tools and weapons we need to wrestle it every day--for we MUST wrestle it every day--and chase our dreams like everyone else.