Paddleboard Race and My Last Week at JDRF

      The paddleboard race last weekend was amazing!  JDRF had over 60 participants, a wonderful success for our first attempt at this.  The day was perfect at the beach and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.  I know I had fun!  There was a 6-mile race, a 2-mile race, as well as a kid’s course.  My friend and I both participated in the 2-mile race, he came in fifth on the paddleboard and I came in first in the kayak race!  Not that I had much competition for first, considering I was the only one in a kayak… But it was still really fun and I enjoyed doing the course.  I’ll definitely be doing this again when it comes around next year, I’m sure then there’ll be more competition!

     This past Tuesday was also my last day working at JDRF.  I’m sad to leave, but there are so many opportunities to volunteer and do things for JDRF that I’m sure to see these awesome people again soon.  I had such a fantastic experience there and learned a lot.  This internship has certainly been a very interesting experience over the summer.  Hopefully it won’t be too long before I’m volunteering with JDRF again!

Paddleboarding!

     This week at JDRF has been pretty exciting.  The YLC has planned a paddle board race for this weekend and we have been helping out all we can to get ready.  This is the first time they have done anything like this, and everything looks great so far!  I will be participating in the race and am so excited!  I’ll be back soon afterwards to let you all know how it went, but I’m sure it’ll be great.  We have also been preparing for the Dream Gala in October; of course there is quite a lot that goes into that.  All of us at JDRF have been doing a variety of things to prepare, I’m sure it will be wonderful!

     On another note, I was able to visit the new USF Diabetes center, and it is amazing!  They have absolutely everything T1D in one place.  They can do it all, from drawing blood to consultations and so much more in between.  I believe I’ve heard something about a Zumba class as well…  It is certainly an exciting development!  

Growing

     This week at JDRF has been quite interesting.  They are preparing for several major events that will be taking place in the Fall.  While there, I was working on writing sections of the newsletter.  The T1D community is already so large and is growing surprisingly fast, it seems like there is a lot more involvement and involvement opportunities now than there was only a few years ago.  In the newsletter I wrote about two more support groups, one for families and one for teens, being started around Tampa.  Being relatively new to everything JDRF is about, I am constantly and pleasantly surprised at how many people are working to help find a cure.  

Introducing the Intern

     Hello!  My name is Abby, I am a Biology major and will be a sophomore at USF this Fall.  On campus I am very involved with Students with Diabetes, in fact, I will be president of the club next semester.  Over the summer I received an internship at JDRF as well!  It’s hard to believe so many opportunities have appeared this quickly since joining SWD.  It has been an exciting and interesting experience working at JDRF.   So far as an intern, I have had the opportunity to learn quite a bit about advocacy and what goes on behind the scenes at JDRF for their fundraising and outreach events.  There is certainly a lot that goes in to planning these events and being able to do what I can to help out has been a fantastic experience.  Last week I was invited to go with Mrs. Carole form JDRF on behalf of JDRF to a volunteer fair at a large local business where we were able to talk to many interested people about T1D and offer ways through which they could help the organization in finding a cure.  I’m always excited to go back to the office in St. Petersburg every week, there is always something new and interesting to learn.  Through this experience I hope to improve my communication skills, critical thinking skills, and learn as much as I can about advocacy and T1D.