I'm a self-proclaimed adventurer. I love to try new things, go to all sorts of places, and I'm always up for a challenge. So college seemed like it'd be one huge adventure in life. But three years ago, I sat down to apply to colleges and had no idea as to what I wanted. Plus there was one major issue looming over me: my health.

I've always known that diabetes would keep me a little more cautious than most. But I've never let it stop me. I played sports, I took trips, I even went zip-lining through the jungle last year. Diabetes means that I plan much more than the average person, that I don't just pick up and leave without extreme consideration. I never thought it would hold me back.

And it really hasn't. But there is one major part of my health that has. All these issues in the past few years really stopped me from living the life I expected and wanted to live. I had plans to go to school away from home, take a back packing trip through Europe, study abroad...to truly challenge myself in my youth so I wouldn't regret things later.

Sadly, I'm coming on the end of my college career and feeling very regretful. I didn't get to go to college that far away from home, I've been forced into a "low stress" environment, and I haven't traveled as much as I wanted to at all. All because I have to carefully watch my stress, manage my symptoms, and make sure I'm actively working towards getting these health issues under control.

The adventurer in me isn't settling. The past few weeks, I've been aching for something more, something different, something that truly pushes me to get outside myself. But I can't help consider that I can't take a semester abroad if my health is the way it is now (with its ups and downs and susceptibility to stress). And my mother keeps me in reality in that arena as well.

It was the whole reason why I didn't apply to the schools I really wanted to go to. And now it's the whole reason why I'm 9 months from graduating and trying to squeeze in something new. I refuse to settle this time though, health issues or not. I'll compromise, sure. But I will not give up. I'll take my adventures and have my fun. I'm not boxing myself in or putting life on a shelf for "after I'm better."

Most of all, I just hope that the next few months bring hope and promise that these issues are on their way out or at least manageable in the college stress environment. I have faith that my tedious efforts and the insight of knowing my body will bring relief...I'm just not sure when.