Joanna

I am the mother of two awesome young men,  Phil and Jack Southerland.   I work at Florida State University (FSU) College of Business in graduate programs, and I teach group fitness exercise at both FSU Bobby E. Leach Recreation center and Premier Health and Fitness.  I try to volunteer for anything related to diabetes or exercise.

My commitment to exercise and acquiring knowledge about healthy living stems from my son, Phil, who has Type 1 diabetes.  Phil was diagnosed near death with Type 1 diabetes at 7 months of age.  This was a "drop to my knees" life altering event.  Until that second in my life, my biggest worry was whether my shoes matched my purse.

I changed everything in my life so that my son might live long (I was told he would die, be blind, or have renal failure within 20 years).  This began a long road to a personal commitment and passion to try to lead a healthy lifestyle. This was never easy.   It took a lot of discipline and, at first, was a struggle.  This healthy lifestyle was for my children.  In Phil's case, it was how he learned to combat the potential harm from Type 1 diabetes.  This meant insulin injections, consistently healthy eating, and daily exercise.  There is no vacation from this disease.  Taking care of diabetes and daily exercise came to be on par with brushing our teeth.  As Phil's younger brother, Jack,  grew, he also became a regular "exerciser."

I learned to search for hope and for support on the Internet.  I volunteered for PBS (first educational website) where there were no commercials -- just education.  I learned how to access  educational  tools to foster healthy lifestyles not only in my children but also in my friends -- my "village"  -- who made it possible for me to raise my sons alone.

Group fitness instruction grew out of this passion to help others understand the benefits of exercise on long term health.

My struggle paid off.  There was no one to turn to at the time of Phil’s diagnosis who could be a role model for me to grab hold of to see that my son might live.  Twenty-seven years later -- almost to the day of his diagnosis -- he was featured on the cover of  "Diabetes Forecast"  for his dream, hard work, and ultimately Team Type 1 -- athletes with Type 1 and now Type 2 diabetes who serve as the role models I never had access to.