This fall I will be leaving for West Virginia University, I am pretty worried about what all to expect not only as a freshman but also as a type one freshman. Any advice? Also, if you or someone you know is attending WVU and has type one diabetes please let me know!
hey Allie,
I'm not from Virginia, but I have T1D and am starting my fourth and final year of college! So I've been through what your going through now! Are you living on campus? Will you be living with someone you haven't met yet? What are some specific questions you have?
I will have lived on campus my entire college career. I went in "blind" and met my freshmen roommates when I moved in, sort of. One of my original roommates I have lived with ever since. Don't worry, college is an amazing experience, and like your quote, your diabetes doesn't control you. With college you get to experience more freedom than ever before, and doing it with T1D might make it a little bit more challenging, but it's how you overcome those challenges that makes you stronger.
Make sure to tell your roommate about your diabetes, and educate them as well. They need to know. Also it is smart to inform your RA, just in case. Some people fill out paperwork at their office of disabilities, but I never did. I found most of my teachers willing to cooperate, if they had a no eating policy or something of the sort. I didn't tell all my teachers, especially not freshmen year when my classes were larger, and they wouldn't remember my name the following class anyways. Now that I'm into more of my degree, I know my teachers on a personal level, and most of them know I have T1D. (Having T1D also makes for great subjects for speeches, research papers, and other projects!)
Good Luck, and Have fun, if you have any other questions, let me know!
Hey,
There are a few college-specific concerns that any diabetic entering freshman should consider -- how should I tell my roommate? should I tell my RA? should I sign up with disability services? how will drinking affect my blood sugar? -- but ultimately, as far as diabetes is concerned, college is no different from any other time of your life. So long as you maintain relatively good control (notice I didn't say perfect control!), you'll be fine.
But let me know if you have any specific questions. I had every possible diabetic experience in college and don't mind sharing.
Tell your RA (Resident Assistant) about your diabetes. I worked as an RA my sophomore year and it helped to know what medical issues my residents had in case a problem came up.
Have glucose tablets or gel or some other form of sugar that your roommates won't want to eat if they get hungry for a snack.
Frankly I had pretty terrible diabetes control during college, but still survived and did okay grade wise. Wish I had been smarter and taken better care of my diabetes, but I was dopey and rarely tested so I had a lot of surprise highs and lows.
My roommates were always cool and knew that if I started acting weird they should give me sugar. =)