My name is Naomi Kingery and I've lived with type 1 diabetes since the age of 12. I entered my teen years with a new diagnosis and worked very hard to strive to thrive through my teen years with diabetes. On my 20th birthday I sat down to write my eBook, Sugar Free Teens. I felt it was important to take time to step back and focus on the milestone I had just crossed: I was no longer a teenager living with diabetes. What did I learn? What life lessons impacted me the most? And most of all, how did I make it through? Maybe by sharing my experiences, I could help a teenager out there see their disease differently.
  

In the beginning of my book, I share my top 5 tips for teens with diabetes, as I looked back on all that I had gone through. I want to share those with you and expand upon them.

• Live your life. Don't let diabetes hold you back. Instead, find ways to make it enhance who you are. 
• Don't allow your peers to make you feel uncool because you're different. Find a support group of people just as cool as you are.
• Expect excellence of yourself. If you mess up, forgive yourself and move forward. Continue to strive for excellence! 
• Realize that the negatives of this disease will try to blind you of the positives. Don't let that happen! 
• Know that the life lessons diabetes teaches you will enable you to reach your potential as an adult.

When I look at these tips, I am reminded that it's important to take time during your younger years to deal with your diabetes. It's often too easy to go with the flow and to bottle up emotions thinking that no one else knows what you're going through. If I could have done things differently, I would have had more of an attitude of gratitude. I would have thrown one less pity-party-attendee-of-one and I would find ways to focus on the upsides of all of the downsides presented to me. I would have sought out support that I needed when I needed it, and should have been more open about how I felt that diabetes was changing me as a person over the years.

If you're growing up with diabetes, I want to take a moment to encourage you. Take a step back and look at how strong, smart and dedicated you are. Pay attention to the big and small ways that diabetes has taught life lessons that many people twice your 

age haven't had the opportunity to learn yet. And most of all---don't ever lose sight of hope that tomorrow can be a better day. 

Please know that like me, you will one day be able to take a step back and know that diabetes had a profound impact on your life. I can honestly say that today, at 25 years old, my diabetes has shaped me in the most beautiful and special ways. It's been a long and hard road after these 13 years but I know that I am only getting stronger, smarter and more dedicated to learning how to live my life to love my diabetes.

Spencer Tollefson  

Have you wondered what your favorite counselor does for their day job? Or, perhaps you've lost touch with a CDF pal and would love to know what they're up to. Search no more! You can find out here in the alumni spotlight "Where Are They Now?"... Oh, and please remember to email and let us know what you are up to so we can feature YOU too!

1. How many years did you attend camp and what was the last year that you attended? 

6 years as a camper and 2 years as staff. I went as a camper from 2000-2004, missed 2005 (due to a conflict that OBVIOUSLY was not as important as I thought it was at the time), and returned in 2006. I did not return to camp until 2011 and 2012 when I came on as staff (big mistake waiting so long!).

2. What is your favorite camp memory? 

There was a skit one night during my first year of camp where I was one of three campers selected to come up on stage. Mind you, at the time I was only nine years old. I was blindfolded and kissed on the cheek by someone supposedly from a panel made up of female counselors and coaches. I was promised a gift card if I was able to choose the correct kisser. Well, as naive and sightless as I was, I excitedly picked one of the woman. Turns out, I got a big smooch from Big Mike. I know it was captured on video but haven't seen it in years - someone should find that footage! 

3. Did you learn anything at camp to improve your diabetes care? 

My dad likes to remind me that I learned "Test Don't Guess" at camp. I took that to heart. Unless you have a Continuous Glucose Monitor, I think the best way to care for your diabetes is to be able to have as much information as possible - which means testing more often.

Besides testing, I feel that I learned a lot from talking to other campers and seeing what products and techniques worked and did not work for them. Rotating injection sites, brands of meters and insulin pumps, different tips and tricks. I felt that I often went home from camp inspired with new diabetes care ideas (of course, everyone is different and change in treatment should be considered carefully before making any changes!). 

4. Do you stay in contact with anyone you met while attending camp? 

I stay in contact with some former campers and tend to see someone associated with CDBC every once in a while. It's a big network. I think it's a lot easier with the prevalence of social media to keep in touch with what everyone is doing. Kayley Wolf had a layover in Seattle and I was able to grab lunch with her at the airport about a year ago, I saw Grady Kestler when his band - Soda Pants - stopped by to play in Seattle this past summer, and I was just at a work conference where another participant knew Garrett Jensen from school (so we immediately chatted it up)!

5. Do you have any advice for present or future campers? 

Have fun at camp! Get to know other campers and staff and  do your best to stay in touch with them. The more that time goes by the more I realize how special CDBC camp is. Diabetes affects our lives in so many ways and forms that no one fully understands it, except other campers. It's a unique bond between that people without Diabetes do not get to experience - so take advantage of making friends at camp and keeping in touch with people when at home!

6. Tell us about yourself since your camper days...did you attend college and where...are you working...are you married...do you have children...anything else you would like to share.

After graduating from high school in Tacoma, Washington, I attended the University of Washington in Seattle for college. I majored in Business and returned for a fifth year to do a Master's program in Accounting. I wrapped that up this past summer (2014) and enjoyed a few months off. During that time I took the exams needed for my professional

 licensing and traveled for about a month around Europe and Asia. (As a side note: I feel that it takes a lot of planning to bring pump supplies and insulin with you halfway across the world!) In October 2014 I began working in the tax department for the professional services firm, PwC, in Seattle. I am now moving onward to see what happens next in life!

If anyone finds themselves in the Seattle area, please feel free to get ahold of me and I would love to meet up!