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margosbloggo · 2 years

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Margo Hood

Common Application Essay

Fall 2018

“My Dead Pancreas”

March 16, 2015, started off as a normal Monday. I attended school, then my mom picked me up for my yearly well check. I didn't think much of it. I was healthy, hardly ever got sick, and felt fine. It was the normal routine: the nurses checked my height, weight, and collected a urine sample from me. My doctor had just started checking my vital signs when a nurse came in stating that she found sugar in my urine. The nurse then checked my blood glucose and the readings were alarmingly high. My doctor exited the room and called Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. He came back and said that the Emergency Room was expecting us. After hours of medical tests and waiting in the Emergency Room, the doctor determined that I had developed Type One Diabetes (T1D).

Receiving the news that your pancreas has died is just as devastating as losing a best friend you never knew you had; you never know how much it means to you until it’s gone. Living with a dead pancreas is not fun. It requires lots of finger pricks, injections, math, weird suntan lines caused by medical devices, and educating those around you of the disease. There is no cure for T1D. I’m stuck with this dead pancreas forever.

When I was first diagnosed, I felt powerless. I didn’t choose or ask to have a dead pancreas, God handed it to me on a silver platter and said, “Enjoy your new life.” It felt like I had returned from the dead. My classmates looked at me as if I were a completely different person. They didn’t understand how one small mistake in an insulin dosage could lead to my death. They just thought I was that crazy girl who talked too much about her disability.

Regardless of what others thought of me, I was determined to retake control of my life. I had to relearn how to love and accept myself. I embraced the tiny spots on my fingertips from finger pricks. I learned to love the scars that my continual glucose monitor sensors and insulin pump sites left behind. I forced myself to use my voice to advocate for a cure and raise awareness about Type One Diabetes.

I didn’t truly learn how to love my diabetes until I became a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Youth Ambassador. Meeting people who were not only around my age but also were fighting the same battle as I was motivated me. I wanted to get involved in the diabetes community more. It made me realize that diabetes is both the ugliest and most beautiful gift that I’ve ever received. Without it, I would not have met some of the amazing and brave people I call my friends. I would not have been able to participate in or know of amazing fundraisers such as JDRF’s annual Cincinnatian Of The Year Gala or American Diabetes Association’s Tour De Cure. I would not have found my voice if it weren't for T1D.

I want to be a nurse (BSN) and Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) so I can teach newly diagnosed diabetics about their disorder and teach them that diabetes isn’t a burden. I want to teach them that diabetes does not define them; they are stronger than their disorder. But most importantly, I want to educate people around me about diabetes. I want to end the stigma that surrounds this often misunderstood disease.

[photographs taken by Mark Hood (2015 graduation left, 2019 graduation right)]

#diabetes #type 1 diabetic #type one diabetes #diabetic #college #common app #college essay #nursing school #nursing #nursing student #diabetes awareness month #personal narrative #high school #senior year #graduation #growing up #advocate

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margosbloggo · 3 years

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I’ve always said that the world is a different place for the heartbroken. It moves on a different axis, at a different speed. Time skips backwards and forwards fleetingly. The heartbroken might go through thousands of micro-emotions a day trying to figure out how to get through it without picking up the phone to hear that old familiar voice. In the land of heartbreak, moments of strength, independence, and devil-may-care rebellion are intricately woven together with grief, paralyzing vulnerability and hopelessness. Imagining your future might always take you on a detour back to the past. And this is all to say, that the next album I’ll be releasing is my version of Red.

Musically and lyrically, Red resembled a heartbroken person. It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together in the end. Happy, free, confused, lonely, devastated, euphoric, wild, and tortured by memories past. Like trying on pieces of a new life, I went into the studio and experimented with different sounds and collaborators. And I’m not sure if it was pouring my thoughts into this album, hearing thousands of your voices sing the lyrics back to me in passionate solidarity, or if it was simply time, but something was healed along the way.

Sometimes you need to talk it over (over and over and over) for it to ever really be… over. Like your friend who calls you in the middle of the night going on and on about their ex, I just couldn’t stop writing. This will be the first time you hear all 30 songs that were meant to go on Red. And hey, one of them is even ten minutes long.

Red (Taylor’s Version) will be out November 19.

https://taylor.lnk.to/RedTaylorsVersion

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margosbloggo · 3 years

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I was diagnosed with ADHD (inattentive type) when I was in kindergarten. • Fun fact: there are 3 different types of ADHD: -inattentive (formally called ADD) -hyperactive -combined • Here’s a list of things I do to help my ADHD that just make sense✨

Color code my planner and calendar!

I put all of my school assignments in my planner and all of my personal plans/responsibilities on my calendar. In my planner, each class is assigned a color. I put all of my homework, tests, quizzes, etc on the month overview and day-to-day tasks on the weekly pages. I plan out what assignments I’m going to do on what day at the beginning of each week, so I know what’s going on during the week and I don’t have to worry about missing anything. I mainly use my wall calendar to keep track of my work schedule, doctor’s appointments, site changes, and when I hang out with my friends.

Label things and organizing with containers!

Labeling things helps me stay organized and find things quickly. Containers keep my drawers relatively mess-free. I wrap my chords with rainbow loom bands leftover from my middle school days.

Listening to music!

I love having music playing in the background while I study or do work because it helps me focus. I prefer listening to a CD or record because then I can’t skip through my song library constantly like I can on Spotify. With CDs and vinyl records, I’m limited to what I own. My CD player does have Bluetooth. I like to connect my phone and listen to my Spotify when I’m relaxing or doing something not important (ie: cleaning, painting).

Finding ways to visualize things!

I think everyone in anatomy should buy a plastic skull at Halloween (I got mine at target for ~$10). Labeling and drawing out things helps me learn and understand things better than flashcards. It’s easier for me to look at a skull and memorize all of the facial bones than try to memorize where a bone is based on description alone.

Whether you have ADHD or not, I hope there was something in this thread that interested you. Please do not be afraid to ask me questions about ADHD!

#actually adhd #adhd post #adhd tag #adhd awareness #adhd problems #adhd culture #organization #plannerlife #music #vinyl records #music cds #nursing school #college #university #type one diabetes #type 1 diabetic #dance #ballet

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