Age: 8
Age at T1D diagnosis: 3

Marina isn’t sure what she wants to be when she grows up, but she does know that she wants to make a difference in other people’s lives. Yet she’s already done just that: Marina and her family have appeared on the news talking about their local JDRF Walk, and have been featured on the front page of the local newspaper promoting T1D awareness. Plus, Marina has recorded radio commercials promoting the JDRF Walk, and has participated in two TrialNet studies. For fun, this eight–year–old spends her time writing music and poems, doing arts and crafts, and practicing gymnastics. As her dad says, advocacy is a family affair, “Diabetes has been the hardest thing we have ever had to deal with, but it has also shown us that anything is possible.”