so as of right now i live in a town where you know everyone and everything about pretty much everyone and everything..next year im really trying to attend Penn State Main or Theil College which are really big schools? does anyone have advice on how to manage diabetes in a bigger environment?
I grew up in a relatively small town and go to a large university (UMass Amherst). I know what you mean about everyone knowing everybody else. It can be a LOT easier knowing who to talk to, where to go, what to do, etc. But fundamentally, it should be the same... I suggest you do as much research as you can about the services these schools offer for students with diabetes. At UMass Amherst you have to go through Disability Services. I never really thought of myself as disabled so it took me a while to figure out that's where I had to go. Anyway, figure out ahead of time what office you should be contacting, contact them, figure out how to obtain whatever accommodations you need, and obtain the necessary paperwork, etc. Also, it would be worth checking out the school's health services building and/or any local hospitals in the area. I realize it's June now...but better late than never.. Good luck!
heypesi! I'll be leaving my tiny town (Average graduating class of 100), to go to a big university in the fall too! I almost went to Penn State main, but I decided to in another direction. Good luck with school!
I too went from a small town to a big university, and it can definitely be tough. I'm going into my third year now but I know first year was especially tough. Some things I'd recommend to watch out for (diabetes and non-diabetes related):
1. Portion sizes that are served in university cafeterias are often HUGE and it's easy to feel oblidged to eat all of it if you're paying for it, but just don't. A lot of foods have high sugar content too (higher than a similar normal meal of the same size because they'll add more sugar to sauces etc) so make sure you find out carbs on all the foods.
2. It's easy to feel like you're alone if you don't have many friends at the school and you come from a small town where you're use to knowing everyone. Remember that first year is tough for a lot of people, and you're not the only one who might feel out of place or alone sometimes.
3. If you have a roommate, depending on who it is, it's helpful if you can arrange something with them so that they can keep an eye on you (especially in regards to night time lows) so that maybe if you're not up in the morning they can wake you up and just make sure you're ok and ask if you need to test your blood etc.
4. I agree with Elie that it's a great idea to familiarize yourself with your campus health facilities! Often they have all sort of support programs through counsellors and nurses that you can take advantage of!
Hope that helps! I write a blog about living as a university student with type 1 diabetes, so if you ever wanna check out on those days when you feel like you're the only one out there dealing with diabetes and university, here's the link: aimingforaverage-a1c.blogspot.com
Yeah, Emily's totally right about the food. Also, I'm not sure how common this is, but my school puts quite a bit of info online regarding the food. You can find nutrition facts for any dish/entree. I would definitely visit the dining services website to see what information is available. Seeing as you'll more or less be eating the same food every week, once you get feel for the carb content in your meals you won't have to do much research for the rest of the semester (or year). Of course, all this information should be available, so even if it's not posted online (which is probably more likely) you could still contact the head of dining services and request the nutrition facts for certain foods.
hey thanks guys...this really helped me alot ! im actually writing a paper now on college life and diabetes if anyone would mind, if i could interview you on here for my paper? that would help me alot! thank you!!
Off topic from the thread, but hey there! I go to Hampshire College! :)