Introducing... Me
Hey guys,
Thanks for visiting my Live Journal. Here's a little about me and why I'm doing this. Enjoy!
I grew up in Riverside, California and moved to Los Angeles in '96 to go to USC, where I majored in theatre. After spending some time in the entertainment industry, then bartending, I currently work in finance at a major corporation.
I found out I was HIV+ in October 2003 at the age of 25 after a routine HIV test. Needless to say, I was floored. I was always the one who practiced "safer sex" and was always cautious about STDs. How could this be happening to me? I got re-tested and results were the same. It was pure devastation. I figured I must have gotten it through unprotected oral sex, a practice that I considered "safe" at the time.
The next 8 months were extremely difficult. What did being HIV+ mean in today's world? On the one hand, there are meds now, people are healthier, stronger. But on the other hand, people are still dying from this disease. I didn't know what to believe. Depression, never-ending thoughts of death and illness, regret, anger were now part of my everyday routine. But after the support of some great friends, I learned that life goes on... the rent still needs to get paid, nieces and nephews still need an uncle who will hug them and play with them and friends still need you to cheer them on. Then before you know it, there's joy again and happiness and love. Slowly but surely, these things started to creep back into my life.
Not a day goes by that I don't think about HIV in some way or another. And no part of my life was left untouched. Yes, life goes on, but it is a completely 100% without-a-doubt totally different life. "What about dating?" "Will I ever have kids?" "Should people at work know?" "Will my friends accept me?" "How long will the meds work?" These are questions that I still thinks about from time to time. Nonetheless, I am so grateful to have the life I have.
I'm grateful because I have tried to make my experience with HIV an expression in helping and educating others. In addition to being a speaker at Hope's Voice, I also volunteer at APLA and Project Angel Food in my spare time. I hope that my message with help many young people, especially men and women of color, who are now the fastest growing group of new HIV cases in the US. I also hopes that my work will eventually take me to Africa either full or part time, where I want to work to fight poverty and AIDS.