A roller coaster. That’s how Jasmine Wiese (12) describes her senior year. But it can be used to illustrate her life as well, from the apex of her health to a downward swirling spiral of insulin pumps and glucose monitors, sallying forth with a troop of other type 1 high schoolers to the top of Mount Whitney. She fights the shocks that punctuate her experiences with resilience, creating patterns, a sense of order and tidiness to her hectic life.

Jasmine was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes the first day of her junior year. When she was diagnosed, she felt relieved since she finally understood the cause of the exhaustion she experienced the year prior. She feels as though she is emotionally in different places every day as she battles her illness. Nevertheless, she still retains the optimism and drive to keep going. 

“I have really bad days … [but] instead of letting diabetes suck up my identity…I keep telling myself that I will be able to get there, I will be able to overcome this, and I will keep going,” Jasmine said.

Jeffrey Fung (12), Jasmine’s close friend, appreciates her strength in the face of adversity. From attempting New York Times crosswords to going on Target runs together, he’s watched her grow since her middle school days. 

“She’s had a very different journey than most of us…and [throughout] she has maintained her happiness and nice personality,” Jeffrey said. 

When she was younger, Jasmine’s parents frequently brought her hiking and biking around their neighborhood. She carried those emblems of her childhood through junior year, learning how to channel her worries into physical activities she enjoys. 

“Hiking…is really about breaking out of a bubble for me,” Jasmine said. “I get to really get a sense of who [I am], separate from the persona I have when I am down in the valley.” 

Last summer, she climbed Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the United States and the Sierra Nevada, as part of a program with several other high schoolers also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. They camped in tents outside for a week, carrying around 35-40 pounds worth of utilities. 

“[I’m] never going to let myself go out of control to the point where I feel horrible… that’s why I went to Mount Whitney because I needed to prove to myself [that even though] I have this chronic autoimmune disease, it’s not going to stop me from doing amazing things,” she said. 

In addition to uncovering her personal identity, hiking also serves as a liberating experience to view the world with a fresh pair of eyes. Furthermore, Jasmine finds hiking to be an escape and a chance to take a break from the stresses of her daily life. 

“I think when you are in nature, all that rhythm and pace that defines our lives down here, is thrown up into the air. None of that matters, because all that matters when [I’m] up the mountain is [the fact that] I physically made it,” Jasmine said.   

Apart from hiking, Jasmine has been dancing at Harker for nine years now. Karl Kuehn, the Upper School dance director, admires Jasmine’s dedication and passion, especially her motivation to challenge herself as a student. 

“[Jasmine’s] always been a student [who] is so passionate and so dedicated really about everything she does. She’s just the sweetest, funniest, and smartest young woman… I feel like she’s the type of person who never gives up [and] she’s not shy to let you know that she’s curious about what she’s being taught,” Kuehn said.

Science has always been a prime interest of hers; when Jasmine was eight, her parents bought her a mini microscope and chemistry set, catapulting her scientific curiosity into motion. 

“Isn’t it amazing that there are so many things that can go wrong in your body? I think your body is so incredibly intricate on such a small scale. If you really think about it, we’re just a bunch of chemical processes going on,” Jasmine said. 

Jasmine feels that fascination with science, especially biology, did not begin because of her experience with diabetes. However, her medical challenges led her to be even more captivated by how complex the human body is. 

In middle school, she expanded her scope of knowledge beyond science, diving into the realm of language; she still actively scouts the beauty and intricacies of language. 

“I think that languages all have patterns and I find those patterns fascinating, which is probably why I like science. I like patterns. I like finding some kind of reason or order in chaos,” Jasmine said. 

Jasmine has also developed some of her strongest friendships in her nine years at Harker — such as that with Jin Tuan (12), who acknowledges Jasmine as her “soul sister.” She admires Jasmine’s strength as well as her consideration for others regardless of her illness. 

“She always seeks to build a community [and] always wants to bring people together. [Diabetes] has become a part of her since her diagnosis, and I think it’s really admirable how she seems to have embraced that,” Jin said. 

Despite her hardships, Jasmine believes that hope is the value that prevails over any obstacle in their life.

“You should always have hope … because the world and time will continue moving [forward] whether [or not] you want it to,” Jasmine said.