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Like many high school freshmen, Megan Salavantis has a busy schedule that includes cheerleading practice, school clubs and homework.

One thing that makes this 14-year-old different, however, is that she is also a published writer. Several of her poems have been published, including "Act One," which appears in this month's issue of "Teen Ink" magazine, a literary magazine for young people.

Over the summer, she wrote an 80,000 word novel, "Cres-cent." It's currently being professionally edited.

Megan, a parishioner of St. Anthony's Church in Schen-ectady and a student at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School there, said she is looking for a literary agent. If she doesn't find a publisher, she plans on self-publishing her novel.

Proceeds, she said, would go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. JDRF is important to her, as she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes (type 1 diabetes) when she was nine years old.

According to the JDRF, with type 1 diabetes, a person's body stops producing insulin. The disease is chronic and must be controlled by injecting insulin.

Megan uses an insulin pump to control her disease. In addition, she must test her sugar levels before each meal or physical activity.

"I need to do it," she said. "I don't have much of a choice. I don't let it get me down."

Diabetes often inspires her literary work as well as her volunteer efforts. During the summer, she served as a counselor at a camp for children with diabetes run by Ellis Hospital in Schenectady.

Megan hopes that younger children with the disease can feel good about their future when they see all that she is able to accomplish despite her illness: "I would like to be considered a role model."

In addition to writing and cheerleading, Megan is also trying out for her school's track team, is a member of the ND-BG mock trial team and has served as a counselor at a summer camp at St. Helen's School in Niskayuna.

"Puzzle"
Let's find the pieces, So we can fix this,
And we can get stronger, So we'll last longer.
This disease is a puzzle,
And it's not hard to be muddled,
BY the everlasting confusion that never seems to disappear.
However, we don't live in fear,
For the end is near.
Let's retrace our steps,
But not find where things went wrong;
It's our fears that we are beyond.
Sometimes we may grow fragile,
And may not be able to fight,
But we will live our lives.
We may shake, But we will never break,
We'll keep our faith.
This affliction makes our lives a puzzle,
It's like trying to see through a murky puddle.
We'll raise the money,
And try to fit the pieces right,
We'll find the answer in our lifetimes.
We must join hands and hold our heads towards the sky,
Because our hopes are just as high.
Let's bow our heads and succumb to our wish,
Let's fight to end this.
Look into each other's eyes,
See the familiar ache inside.
We will work together,
To rid the world of type 1 Diabetes forever.
We will solve this puzzle.
Megan Salavantis

(01/28/10)



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