pilot program

Today I got to join another English class that will not only be better for my schedule, but it's actually socially responsible too. It's a pilot program that is exploring how to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. My role this late in the class (with a mere four weeks to go) is to stoke interest, lend my skills at editing and design the layout for the magazine that the class hopes to produce.

The teacher is the same teacher I have for my other English class (where we simply go through the rigorous work of writing one long essay style term paper that isn't scholarly and tells a story--not as easy as it sounds, but not too hard for me) and though she means well, she's kind of flaky. I found myself translating her directions to the rest of the class as I have done on many previous ocasions for my other class, and they all said, Oh, why didn't she just say that?

Today we talked about an event that they have been planning for all semester that just so happens to be taking place next week and is actually pretty exciting. They are trying for a three day bout of private testing for HIV +/-, but it looks like it might only be two days (one of which the college was already planning for). What is exciting about it, at least for me, is to be a part of something really big, something that we're going to try to get out to the whole student body, something we're going to rally outside for to draw attention to the testing and the issues surrounding the stigma of knowing whether or not you're infected.

Just being in the class today I learned so much that I didn't know. Two people who are infected that have unprotected sex together create a deadlier strain of the virus. AIDS can be transmitted through breast milk. The Student Health Center at Columbia does tests at least once a semester, sometimes twice.

Also, I found it interesting that the students in class participated in the rigor of taking the test together, as a way of learning what it was like for the two weeks when you wait for your results. I don't know if I could have done that...it seems kind of personal. And what if that was the way you found out you were HIV positive and you didn't even know before?