Lessons Beyond the Classroom: Balancing University and Type 1 Diabetes

Lessons Beyond the Classroom: Balancing University and Type 1 Diabetes

No one really prepares you for how much university will change your life or how those changes might throw off your blood sugars and diabetes management. I went from having set schedules, meals prepared for me, and teachers who had known me and my diabetes management for years to learning to juggle unpredictable class times, study sessions, and new friends, peers, and roommates.

University is filled with many firsts: your first late-night study session, your first big exam, and maybe even your first time living away from home. But for those of us with type one diabetes, it can also be our first lesson in self-advocacy, in adapting, in confidence, and in growth with our type one. 

Stress, School, and Blood Sugars

University can be very stressful at times, especially in the beginning when most of us are learning how to be on our own for the first time and learning how to adapt to all the changes in our studies and routines, on top of what feels like never-ending assignments, exams, and extracurriculars. With so much going on, it took me a while to notice the connection between stress and my blood sugars. I started to notice when I had exams or a busy week that my blood sugars were staying high even when I was using the same insulin ratios, taking the same doses, and rotating through the same sites that I knew worked for me.

That was when I decided to talk to my doctors about stress and diabetes. I learned that when you’re stressed, your body releases hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones signal your liver to release extra glucose for energy, a helpful response for short-term “fight or flight” situations, but not so great when you’re sitting in the library for four hours trying to study.

It can be extremely frustrating to already be stressed and then also be struggling with my blood sugars, but learning more about the connection between stress and high blood sugar levels helped me realize that when my blood sugars were off during stressful moments, it wasn’t because I was doing something wrong. It was my body’s natural reaction to stress, and it was a time I should be more compassionate with myself and maybe take those few extra study breaks. For me, it turned out the best study technique wasn’t ignoring my sugars and powering through despite feeling awful so I could finish a few more flashcards; it was giving myself the compassion to take care of myself so I could show up as my best self while studying.

Advocating for Your Needs at School

The summer before I started university, I received an email from my school about our accessibility services and immediately brushed it off. Thinking back, I don’t even think I read the email. I told myself, “I don’t need that; I’m fine. It should be used by people who really need it.” I thought that accommodations could only be for people with worse health conditions or that me having accommodations meant I wasn’t trying hard enough, but as time went on, I realized that I was making things harder for myself by not using the support that was already there.

Using the support provided for me was not making me at an advantage or less deserving; it created fairness for me in my studies. Depending on your school, there might be different accommodations and processes, but in my experience, students with type one diabetes are able to get extra time for assignments or exams if they experience a high or low blood sugar, permission to miss a class without it affecting attendance if they are unwell, or even the flexibility to step out of a lecture to treat a low. These accommodations allow me to take care of my health and do well academically. Because sometimes the strongest form of independence is knowing when to ask for support.

Finding Strength in Support

One of the hardest but best lessons I’ve learned since starting university is asking and learning from the support people around you. Talking about your diabetes to new people like roommates and professors can feel uncomfortable at first. I found it difficult because I didn’t know how they would react or if they would understand, but those conversations can truly make such a huge difference for roommates. I find starting small can be really helpful in explaining what to do if I go low or why I always keep juice boxes around. Now my roommates all bring me snacks when I’m low and let me sit with them so I’m not alone.

With my professors, I found it helpful to mention that I might need to step out during class or take a quick break if my blood sugar drops. Or that the obnoxious alarms were my phone notifications going off during class to let me know I was high, not me trying to be distracting. And to my surprise, people loved to help and learn more about type one.

Having people who try to understand me and take care of me has made a world of difference in my confidence to manage my diabetes away from home and makes me feel so much less alone.

Finding Balance Again

Balance is always something I’ve chased in managing my diabetes,and I think a lot of people can relate. One thing university taught me is that balance isn’t about being perfect, instead, it means learning to adapt when things change. Some weeks I feel like managing diabetes is so easy – I have a few assignments, my sugars are stable, and I’m eating at regular times. Other weeks everything seems to pile up – I’m trying to study for midterms, catch up on classes, I’m stressed, and my blood sugar seems to do the opposite of whatever I want it to. It can be exhausting and there have been many times that I want to give up, that I want to shut off my alarms and stop giving insulin so that I have one less thing to worry about. In those moments, I remind myself why I started caring about my diabetes in the first place. It was because I deserve to feel my best and live fully, even when it is hard.

I learned that balance isn’t something you can find once and hold on to in university. Things are always changing; exam seasons happen, holidays come, there are busy weeks and slow weeks—these moments are not setbacks; they become part of the rhythm of living with diabetes. Finding balance again often starts with the smallest acts: stepping away from a study session to check your blood sugar, taking a deep breath before an exam, or reaching out to a friend when things feel heavy. Those moments of self-compassion are what help bring you back to centre. Even when things feel messy, you’re still moving forward, and that’s balance too.

Lessons beyond the classroom

University has taught me so much more than what I’ve learned in lectures or textbooks. It’s taught me that balance takes practice, that strength can sound like asking for help, and that self-advocacy is its own kind of education. Living with type one in school means learning to adapt, to rest, and to care for yourself through every high and low. These lessons might not appear on a transcript, but they’re the ones that have shaped me the most.

Check out Emily’s T1D Merch designs here >