I’m finishing up my review of the applications submitted for ePatient Scholarships to this year’s Stanford Medicine X conference. There were over 100 applications submitted this year, but only 35 scholarships will be given out.

For the people that applied, but do not receive a scholarship, please do not take this as the end of your journey. We all have stories that deserve to be heard. Maybe Medicine X 2014 will not be the your moment, but that doesn’t mean your moment will not come. There are so many platforms and ways to share stories; Medicine X is just one of them.

When I think about my role in the diabetes, and broader patient community, I find myself circling around the notion that every story is worth telling, and every patient story deserves to be heard. I think that’s one of the reasons that I still find joy in my podcast. I also think that’s why I continue to experiment with ways to use social media (read: Tumblr) to feature new patient perspectives. We don’t benefit from hearing stories from the same people over and over. What has the potential to make a difference is hearing stories from as many people as possible.

There’s strength in sharing stories with similar backgrounds or conclusions as long as they are from new voices. This is what I want to see in the coming months and years: more stories.

I’ll be here trying to figure out how to make this happen. Don’t mind me.