A Pinellas County 10-year-old is headed to Capitol Hill to represent Florida - and diabetes patients. 

Samantha Singh is joining 160 children from across the U.S. who will descend on Washington D.C. Monday to urge members of Congress to continue juvenile diabetes research. 

Singh was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes when she was 4 but that has hardly slowed her down. 

She has studied her disease in detail, learning as much as she can in order to address lawmakers. She'll be putting that knowledge to use when she discusses the benefits of researching a cure for juvenile diabetes. 

"It doesn't really hold me back," she said. "I do swimming, I'm an accomplished writer and I play basketball and I do gymnastics, so it doesn't really hold me back, but it has to be constantly on your mind because it could hurt you or kill you.

"I play basketball for example and last night I had to check my blood sugar before practice. During practice I dropped low and after practice I dropped low, so it's a lot of extra steps to be factored into everything I do."

Singh said that's why her meeting with lawmakers is so important - for her and other children that benefit from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. 

"We're going to tell them about life with type 1 diabetes, and we're going to ask them for the renewal of the special diabetes program," Singh said. 

Singh was chosen out of more than 1,000 children who applied for a chance to address Congress. 

"It would be great to make a difference in the lives of so many people."