Meet Macee Maddox...
"I like laughing a lot. It's fun. And then I like to sing, and spend time with my family and friends," Maddox said.
The spirited Roy Roberts Elementary School fifth grader lives with type one diabetes.
"I'll wake up in the morning. I'll check my blood sugar, and then, I'll eat breakfast and bolus, which is giving insulin to my body because my body doesn't produce it," she said.
Then she's off to school where the day consists of learning, more laughing, and monitoring her body's blood sugar.
"Anytime between then, and if I feel low, I'll go to the nurse," Maddox said.
She has several snacks a day to keep her body in balance.
"When I'm low I feel shaky, and just really (rolls eyes back)... And then when I'm high, I have a really bad headache and I don't feel good. And then I'm irritable," she said.
But there was no sign of irritability the day FOX 34 visited her school. She's not only a great student, she's a true Lubbock leader.
Maddox served as this year's American Diabetes Association Youth Ambassador, spending time educating the community and her classmates.
"New kids come every year and they're like 'what's that? Is that an MP3 player? I like your phone,' just normal questions. And I'm like, no it's my pump and their like (stares)," Maddox explained.
Her proud mother, Nicole Maddox, cites the 10-year--old's contagious personality as the natural force behind her leadership skills.
"There's a reason she's the youth ambassador this year, because she's got so much positive energy and she's just, that kind of girl. She's so positive and she love to get out there and tell people about what's going on. And wants to raise awareness for others that are like her," Nicole Maddox said.
The young girl also spent the year promoting Saturday's Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes event. Proceeds benefited the ADA.
"I think she has big things ahead for her. For one, diabetes will never stop her and that's something we've taught her from whenever she was diagnosed at the age of four. We're not going to let diabetes hold her back from anything," Nicole Maddox said.
And whether that 'anything' is leading hundreds in a race, or simply learning a Latin dance at school, Maddox isn't letting diabetes get in the way of having a good time.
"I know that God gave me this for a reason, and I believe that one day there will be a cure. It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow, but one day there will be," she said.
