When I was in high school, I was kept busy with a loaded schedule. Between field hockey, yearbook committee, National Honor Society, AP coursework, and work at the movie theater on weekends, I barely had time for myself. But I thrived amidst the chaos, and I knew it was something that would help me flourish in college, as well.
That’s why I got involved with the College Diabetes Network my freshman year. I started out attending the meetings as a mere member, and enjoyed the experience of opening up to other people my age with diabetes for the first time in my life. By sophomore year, the unexpected happened and I found myself in the role of president of the organization. Around this time, membership was dwindling and I was determined to breathe new life into the group.
I’m proud to say that this year, my junior year, there are about a dozen of us who regularly attend meetings. We are a registered group on campus, which grants us access to resources that we did not have before.
We meet about once each month, and every meeting we have is filled with excited chatter about visions for our group as well as any individual struggles or successes we are having with our diabetes. Thanks to the ideas that all the members have generated over the course of this year, we will be holding our first real event next month.
We are calling it “Trivia Night for Diabetes”, and it will be taking place at The Harp, an Irish pub located in Amherst. The venue was initially thought of by the vice president of our chapter, and a quick search online as well as a phone call made it the perfect setting for a first event. It turns out that The Harp conducts Trivia Tuesdays each week. It costs $5 per person to play, and all participants get a free buffet at midnight. As I learned these details, I thought this would be a fun way to gain some publicity for our group in addition to breaking up the school week a little bit.
At the end of the evening, The Harp is generously sharing a portion of the night’s proceeds to our organization. In the meantime, we are advertising the event like crazy around campus and we are eager to see how many people attend.
I strongly encourage anyone else who is in college and looking to do an event to consult any local businesses to coordinate something akin to this. Not only is it convenient for anyone from your college to attend, but it is also something that brings your campus and your community together in a meaningful way.
And, if you find yourself in the Amherst area on Tuesday, April 1st at 9 P.M. – stop by The Harp for a fun night of Trivia! You’d be a fool not to attend! (Yes, I know that’s a terrible pun, but I couldn’t resist!)
