Eight years ago, when I first started thinking of myself as someone who works in diabetes, I attended aTaking Control of Your Diabetes(TCOYD) event in San Diego. I was covering it for Kelly Close of Close Concerns.

Wandering around the exhibition hall I started chatting with a gentleman who was eager to answer my questions. He told me he was a peer- mentor and that he speaks to patients around the country helping them manage their diabetes, in part by sharing his story. 

He neglected to tell me he was a former physics professor at M.I.T. Thank goodness I didn’t know, I might have been intimidated. But that’s not Robert Kolenkow’s way to intimidate anyone. 

Because of Bob, I’ve been a peer-mentor for the past three years and it’s one of the most rewarding things I do.

I told Bob about a year ago that he’s one of my mentors because he led me to this work, and he welled up with tears. You can meet Bob in his recent article in The New York Times. He epitomizes the saying that “a life examined is a life worth living.”