Each time I teach WRIT 1733 as a service-learning course, I like to invite you, the students, to reflect on your previous experiences with both volunteering and the issue we’re focusing on in this section—HIV/AIDS and illness. To enhance your experience and the writing community that we’re beginning to form, I think we owe it to each other to understand our perspectives on both these issues.
Let me start by asking you about when you first became aware of what HIV or AIDS was. As I grow older, I’ve realized that those of us who came of age in the late 1980s and early 1990s had a very different experience with this epidemic than people of your generation. For example, I can remember reading newspaper accounts as a teenager about this disease, accounts that were full of fear about catching it from casual contact (a handshake or eating off the same dish) or through kissing. There was a lot of misunderstanding and fear in those years about this disease and a number of marginalized groups (like gay and bisexual men, immigrants, people of color, and homeless people) were stigmatized because mainstream Americans blamed them for the spread of HIV.
I also I grew up terrified that sex was dangerous and that it would probably kill you. In college, my friends and I campaigned endlessly to educate our peers about safer-sex and other ways of preventing the spread of HIV. For me, community service has always been closely tied to the panic many of us felt in the earlier years of the AIDS epidemic, an epidemic that devastated many communities within our country, prompting them into action as a means to survive.
These are just a few of my own personal impressions about this particular disease. I’d be curious to read more of yours. When did you first learn about HIV/AIDS? What did you (or do you) associate with this illness? What questions do you have about it?
On a related note, I’d also be curious to read more about your experience with volunteerism, service-learning or other forms of civic engagement. What kinds of activities have you participated in that prepares you for our work with Project Angel Heart? What do you hope to gain from this part of our course?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I first came to know about HIV/AIDS when it came up on television during my childhood and my mom explained it. As time progressed, I came to learn a little more about it through such encounters with the term, and grew into a full understanding of it and all other common diseases which can be transmitted sexually during a sexual education class in seventh grade, which taught us about safe-sex options as well as abstinence. I try to make a point of educating myself thoroughly on a given issue before I engage in related risky behavior and have never worried that sex might kill me. All one has to do is take the proper precautions, not difficult when one is informed.
ReplyDeleteThough I know how HIV/AIDS is spread, I also know it is important to make a point not to stigmatize the affliction or the individuals afflicted with it with the connotations generally attached to it in the late 80s and early 90s. I also know that HIV/AIDS is not a death sentence and that one stricken with the virus will not necessarily contract AIDS.
My personal volunteer work includes nearly 3.5 years as a junior volunteer at Memorial Hospital, 2.5 years of that spent on the junior volunteer leadership team, an extra commitment of time and responsibility that allowed me to lead others in the volunteer capacity. I was also a member of the National Honor Society in high school, an organization that demanded both academic success and several hours of community service per year in a student’s junior and/or senior year of high school.
I'm not sure when I first learned about HIV/AIDS. This seems to be one of those things that I have at least had a basic knowledge of since I was younger. I think growing up, it was a disease that I usually associated with countries in Africa more than anything else. It didn't really seem to be anything that could afflict anyone close to me. In my family, sex was not something that was talked about so diseases related to sex were not discussed as well. Any knowledge I gained about the disease was from school or newspapers and things like that.
ReplyDeleteMy senior year of high school in my Bio 2 class we studied HIV/AIDS in detail which really helped me understand the disease a lot more. We studied what causes it, in detail, and the history of it through things like the movie And the Band Played On. This class made the disease more familiar to me but it was not something that was associated with fear to the same point of someone growing up when the disease was first discovered. I'm glad I have a scientific knowledge of the disease as well as a societal view because it lets me see how some people are not very aware or informed about the disease. HIV/AIDS is now something that is not just associated with poor countries but also with many people in the industrialized countries as well.
I have a wide variety of volunteer experiences. When I was younger, I used to go with my parents when they delivered meals for Meals on Wheels. When I got older, I would go on trips with my church and do volunteer work at camps and small towns. Some of my favorite volunteer work has been building houses in Juarez, Mexico which I have done on many occasions. I also have volunteered painting classrooms in the Dominican Republic. I have served food at the Denver Rescue Mission. Throughout high school, I fostered animals and volunteered at a veterinary office. Currently, I volunteer at the Dumb Friends League. I'm looking forward to volunteering in an area that is different than my previous experience of poverty and animals.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI don’t recall exactly when or where I first learned about HIV/AIDS, but it was most likely in school. It is an important topic to be educated about, so things like HIV/AIDS were probably covered in health classes throughout junior high and high school. I don’t know as much about it as I should, but it is common knowledge in today’s society, so I’m not oblivious to its consequences.
ReplyDeleteThe virus is much better understood today than it was in the 80s and 90s, so it is not as commonly portrayed in the news anymore. It is hard to imagine growing up in a time when the disease was just starting to spread and was shrouded in mystery. No one knew what it was or how it was contracted; I can imagine it was a difficult time to be a sexually active young adult because people were constantly worrying about it. HIV/AIDS was commonly associated with the gay community, and in the times when gays were unaccepted in society, the virus was something to be embarrassed about. Now that HIV/AIDS is better understood, it has become less pressing of an issue and has almost been pushed to the back of our minds. Continuing to spread the word about HIV/AIDS and keeping the younger generations fully aware of it will hopefully help us to conquer the disease.
I did a lot of volunteering in high school through my church youth group. One of my favorite annual events we hosted was a dinner and bingo night, and all the proceeds went to a charity of our choice. We were in charge of preparing all the food, selling tickets, and serving people. I also volunteered at a homeless shelter with some friends a few times, waking up at 5 AM to cook and serve breakfast to the people at the shelter. It was a very rewarding experience to get to do that, so I am looking forward to getting to cook and deliver food for Project Angel Heart.
I’m not sure when I first learned about HIV/AIDS, but the disease was never introduced in a scary way. I think that people of my generation are lucky as we, for the most part, missed the irrational fear of spreading AIDS through contact or saliva. I am grateful to have never associated AIDS with any negative stereotypes about the patient, because the illness was not presented to me in that way. I was educated about HIV and AIDS in a rational way, and was warned about how the disease actually spreads, but never had any sort of fear of it, just a healthy awareness.
ReplyDeleteI have done a fair amount of service work throughout high school, and have been on three international service trips, one to the Dominican Republic and two to Haiti. I did construction work and worked in a health clinic and orphanage on these trips, as well as preparing food and distributing it to the surrounding communities. These trips have hugely impacted my outlook on life, because I have seen what it is like to live in absolute poverty and can now fully understand and appreciate the opportunities and blessings that I have. Also, they have increased my awareness of the horrible circumstances in many developing countries, and have made me want to do my part to improve the conditions in these parts of the world. I plan on applying to the Peace Corps after I graduate, and hopefully continuing such trips throughout my life.
As for volunteer work in the United States, I have been a part of several youth tutoring and summer camp programs. I find these service experiences very different, because the people I have dealt with in the U.S. are immensely better off than those in poorer countries. But the purpose is the same, and the experiences have still been very rewarding. I think that service work is important, because everyone should use what gifts they have to help those who are less fortunate. Also, I think that the experience is often just as rewarding for the volunteer as for the person being helped, and have yet to encounter a time when I did not gain something from the time I spent volunteering. I am excited to work with Project Angel Heart, and look forward to seeing what I can learn from the experience.
My first encounter with AIDS was through the media. The first time was in a TV show that I was watching with my dad. It was a crime scene show where the perpetrator had AIDS and ended up drugging people with their medications. My dad tried to explain what AIDS was but it seemed like such an abstract disease that I didn’t really understand the consequences of it. The first time I really understood what HIV/AIDS meant was when my religious education classes at church started a yearly fundraiser for a school and orphanage in Uganda. Through that project I learned about the devastation of the illness.
ReplyDeleteEven after learning more about AIDS it seemed far away from me. It was always the illness of Africa, or it was the illness of people who had unprotected sex. Since neither of those pertain to me I have never really been afraid of the illness. I have never known someone who was afflicted by the disease closely so I haven’t seen the effects first hand. AIDS is talked about more in connection with either developing countries or specific regions in the world. Recently there have been articles in USA Today about the AIDS epidemic in Washington D.C. and the fact that AIDS has moved above cancer on the list of most deadly conditions in China.
I have had lots of volunteer experience. In the last four years most of it has dealt with the National Ski Patrol, organizations at my high school such as National Honors Society and Interact, and with the Boy Scouts of America volunteering for merit badge universities and at a camp that I now work at during the summer. I earned three community service letters (like varsity athletics letters but for community service) in high school for completing 150 hours of community service in a single school year.
I remember when the reality of HIV/AIDS was truly introduced to me. It was the summer before my junior year of high school. I had participated in a medical conference for high school students and one of the speakers that I listened to was an HIV positive patient. His first words were unspoken. For five minutes, the room was utterly silent as he placed container after container of prescription drugs on the table. He proceeded to tell us the story of how he had contracted the disease—a one night stand that turned into a nightmare. The consequences were this brutal treatment of drug therapy as seen by the physical proof that lay in front of my eyes. I couldn’t help but feel the tears welling in my eyes. This made the disease real in my eyes, not just some abstract idea that wouldn’t affect me.
ReplyDeleteThe only other experience I had abstractly with AIDS was during my freshman year of high school in Biology. We participated in an experiment that tracked how HIV/AIDS is spread through society. We each had a test tube with clear liquid, but some tubes had a chemical reagent that turned pink when mixed with another chemical. Through each trial, we got a new test tube and had a new set of guidelines (the number of people we were to “have sex” with, the number of test tubes that began with the “disease”). Out of the four trials, I received the virus three times. It was at that time that I realized that my chances of getting HIV/AIDS weren’t any better or worse than the other people in that room. It also eliminated certain stereotypes because the first time that I contracted the disease, I didn’t mix the fluids of my test tube with anyone else. I started with the disease, which showed that HIV/AIDS is not just a sexually transmitted disease, but also can be caused by blood transfusions. I didn’t learn a lot about the disease itself that day, but I did come to understand how easily it can spread.
My volunteer experience began with shifts volunteering at the library my freshman year of high school. I enjoyed it immensely, but the job sequestered me. I wanted to find a way to work with people. Over the summers, I volunteered in the ICU/PCU wing at Littleton Adventist Hospital. It gave insight not only to how the medical field worked, but also the opportunity to work with patients. I also did a lot of volunteer coordinating as president of my high school’s National Honor Society; during the year, we organized events to raise money for the Invisible Children Schools for Schools campaign. The most rewarding thing about these experiences is realizing that there are other people in this world and being able to reach outside your own little box to them.
I do not recall the first time I learned about AIDS. I think I encountered the word and learned that it was a disease outside of school; however, it was not until a sexual education class in 7th grade that I was truly taught the details of the disease. In the class, they taught us about how to protect yourself from contracting HIV and other STDs. I never had the disease explained to me in a fearful way. I was just told the details and how to protect yourself from contracting it. I am lucky to have had the disease explained to me in such a way that did not produce a fearful factor.
ReplyDeleteI remember one of my first, more specific, encounters I had with the disease was learning about the death of Freddie Mercury, the singer of Queen. I grew up as a fan of their music and when I got older I looked into how he die of AIDS and the details of how he coped with the disease the rest of his life.
Prior experience I have had with community service involved a program I costarted with one of my friends. We started a program called TOPs Soccer, Total Outreach Program for Soccer, which is a program that teaches and allows children with disabilities to play soccer. We started it in the summer of our Sophomore year and only had about 20 kids. By the time we left for college we had over 200 kids in the program ranging from the ages of 5 – 21. Each year, more and more kids would join the program. I grew an extremely close bond with the kids in our program and I have missed working with the project greatly.
I assume I probably grew up with conversations about AIDS scattered intermittently throughout the years. Obviously, as a young child, I do not remember most. In fact, my first memory of an introduction to the disease actually occurred when I was around eight.
ReplyDeleteIt was summer and my grandparents were visiting, and my grandmother was ill. Anemic since her youth, Grandma was used to blood transfusions; however, in 1998, she was not completely over the AIDS scare, and had not a transfusion for many months (almost 2 years), and she needed one desperately. My grandfather kept pushing facts at her, none of which I remember now, and my grandma kept responding with the same answer, a name. Afterwards, thoroughly confused and always curious, I asked my mom about the conversation and the oft repeated name that I didn’t know and carried no explanation. My mom explained to me that the name (I don’t remember it now) was of a woman who had died not long ago. The woman had received a blood transfusion when pregnant, was infected with the HIV/AIDS virus, as was the fetus within her. Both died several years later. Hence, my grandmother’s fear of a routine medical procedure was my first introduction to the disease.
I was surprised later on in my youth, when watching VH1’s series, I love the ‘80s, to learn that HIV/AIDS was, in its early years, most often connected with sexual activity and in the 80’s, perceived as the horrible disease of the homosexual, “promiscuous”, or drug addicted individual. My first perception of it was a disease of the completely innocent, a mother and her baby, and possibly, my grandma.
In the past, my volunteer has been concentrated heavily around my church. As a little girl, I helped in all the events my father organized, and as I grew older I continued to. Yet, as I grew, I leaned towards other volunteer venues, as well. All throughout middle school and high school, I volunteered regularly at the nursing home my mother worked at, a horse therapy center for autistic children, a homeless shelter in my small town, the local library, where I was a tutor, a peer justice program through the state court, and many annual events that occurred in my community (my favorite of which was Pioneer Day). In college, I don’t have as much time to do the same amount of service work, and so I am looking forward to working with Project Angel Heart again this quarter. Last quarter, I realized how much I missed it, and I am eager to begin again.
I’m not positive, but I believe that my first exposure to AIDS was when the play Rent came to Boston. My sister, two and a half years my senior, was going to go see it with our parents. I was told that I was welcome to go, but that I probably would not like the play, or even fully comprehend all of the issues that were presented. I didn’t think that much about their dismissal of my attendance. At the age of about eleven I had no desire to see a play that I was told would deeply upset me.
ReplyDeleteAfter that event, I thought very little about AIDS. It wasn’t until health class in seventh grade that I got a full explanation about what this mystery condition was. We had about an entire month dedicated to sex and STDs. For the average thirteen year old this was a pretty awkward experience. I didn’t make eye contact with the teacher, but I more or less paid attention. At the time I had no idea what a crisis it had caused a few years previously.
I think that I learned about that aspect of AIDS in about freshman year when we got a more in depth exposure to the subject and it no longer seemed so uncomfortable to talk about such things in a class full of people I didn’t know. We listened to a lecture, asked questions, and watched the movie Philadelphia. Prior to that class and that movie I had no idea that people were shunned and caused fear just because they had AIDS. This was an entirely new thing to me.
As for community service and service learning, I not participated in community service, but I have already volunteered at Project Angel Heart. I took a service learning class last quarter, with Professor Bateman, and in that class I did both a kitchen shift and a delivery shift.
I have always been enthralled with tv medical dramas, so sure enough I first came to learn about AIDS one night in elementary school while watching ER with my mom. The main story of that particular episode was a patient who was HIV positive, and my mom had to explain to me what that meant.
ReplyDeleteEven after I learned how HIV/AIDS was spread, I don't remember associating the disease with anything negative like promiscuity or homosexuality. I just though of it more in medical terms as a disease that currently is treatable but incurable. I am curious how people with this disease deal on a day to day basis. I would like to know what goes through these people's minds, to see the world through their eyes and walk in their shoes.
I have done a number of different service projects, beginning in middle school. I was a vacation bible school leader every summer, a gymnastics camp counselor throughout the school year, participated in several Relay for Life events, and regularly spent time at a local nursing home doing crafts with the residents there. Additionally, I was a retreat leader and peer mentor in high school and participated in many service activities for NHS. Currently, I volunteer at The Bridge Project every week tutoring a third grader. Service projects are always very humbling experiences for me, and I learn something different from each one. I hope to gain new experiences and insights through working with Project Angel Heart.
I couldn’t say exactly when I first heard about AIDS; I remember knowing that you get AIDS from having unprotected sex, but I didn’t know of any other ways to contract the disease. I vividly recall having a speaker in my 7th grade science class who had AIDS. She told us her story, of how when she went to college, she began dating and having unprotected sex. Six partners later, she met the man that would be her future husband. They decided to get tested for STDs together, which is when she discovered that she had AIDS. After investigating, she found that she had gotten it from the very first guy she slept with, putting all the other men at risk unknowingly. The woman also talked to us about her treatment regimen and how the AIDS virus can become more resistant to the drugs after years of use. She explained that eventually, she would run out of drugs that could help repress the virus and she would die. This speech did a wonderful job scaring us about the disease and about sex in general, making us understand that if we weren’t careful, we could get the disease from someone that didn’t even know themselves.
ReplyDeleteLooking for something else to fill her time, my mom has become a volunteer for Meals On Wheels. This is an organization that makes and delivers food to elderly and disabled people. I have accompanied her a couple times when delivering the food, helping to find the house or apartment and bring it in to the resident. I think this has given me a better understanding about what the experience is like and how it is best accomplished. I am very excited to be a more active participant in this kind of community service, and I hope it will give me a more compassionate outlook.
When I was a child (and still to this day) my favorite basketball team was the LA Lakers. I first learned of HIV/AIDS because one of their greatest players, Magic Johnson contracted HIV and had to stop playing basketball. I didn't really understand at the time why he retired from basketball until my parent's explained that the disease was life threatening and could be transmitted through blood to others.
ReplyDeleteI became truly informed about the disease in 7th grade sex ed class. When I had first been told about the disease I didn't known that it could be transmitted through sexual activity. When I was taught about AIDS/HIV it originally came off as sounding people who were promiscuous contracted the disease. Later though, I found out that it could happen to anyone and was not limited to one group and how important safe sex practices were.
My most notable community service experience is volunteering at a summer camp for children over the summer between my junior and senior year. I'm looking forward to this service learning class because I would like to be a doctor and participating in a program that has contact with people with life threatening illnesses will be a beneficial experience.
I first became of AIDS in first grade, when my teacher explained to my class what a terrible disease it was. I was left with the impression that AIDS was, without a doubt, “the worst disease in the world.” There was no cure for it, so once you developed it, you were most certainly going to die. On top of that, AIDS seemed to be pretty widespread. I thought of it as hell on earth. Now, I realize this isn’t always the case. While AIDS is by no means a mild or harmless disease, it is not the “instant death” that I previously imagined.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of volunteer work, I graduated from a Jesuit high school that was continually reminding us to work as “men and women for others.” Our student life program sponsored a wide variety of service projects that unfortunately, I never seriously took advantage of until senior year. But when I was confronted with the opportunity to take two weeks off from school to volunteer in a local grade school, I jumped at the chance. I was thrilled to discover that working for and with others was not a burden, but a great joy. I’ve been inspired to give at least a little more of myself to others, and I am excited for the chance to do so through this class and Project Angel Heart.
I cannot remember the first time that I became aware of HIV/AIDS, but the first time that I remember being truly confronted with the issue was in my ninth grade biology class. I was already vaguely aware of the disease and the fact that it was spread through the exchange of bodily fluids, generally through sexual contact, and that it was life-threatening. The topic came up in that class during our immune system unit; it was only discussed very briefly, and I am not sure that I learned anything new. I remember looking at a picture in my textbook of a man with AIDS sitting in a hospital bed, amazed that the man looked so fragile (I had never seen a truly sick person before) and that he was still alive (I had always thought that once a person with AIDS got some kind of infection, they had very little chance of fighting it off because their immune system was so damaged). My family did not really talk about the issue, and I did not really understand much more than very basic, general knowledge about the disease. Although I have picked up more information from a high school health class and through popular sources (news, etc.), I still feel that I have only very basic knowledge of the disease.
ReplyDeleteThroughout my life, I believe that I picked up some of the general connotations and stereotypes of society that we discussed in class. To some extent, I think of diagnosis with the disease as something horrible and to be feared, though perhaps not to the same extent as the generation before me. In addition, I associate the disease to some extent with behaviors – drug use and extramarital sex, including but not limited to homosexual behavior – which society classifies as “deviant” and which I personally consider wrong due to deeply-held religious values. However, I see great value in every person and realize that we all make mistakes, so I take care not to judge or discriminate against people with the disease. I believe that these people are still people and deserve a great deal of love, respect, and help with their condition. I deeply respect and strongly support organizations such as Project Angel Heart which reach out to people in need.
In high school I volunteered as a mentor and tutor for an at-risk elementary student, meeting with him weekly for two years. I was on the youth leadership team at my church, which served and mentored the younger high school students and planned and led retreats for them, and I recently returned to help with a retreat as an adult leader. I also helped with vacation Bible school last summer. Since coming to college, I have participated in a variety of service opportunities through FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) such as campus outreach, serving breakfast at a nursing home, etc. I also volunteer as a tutor and mentor at the Bridge Project weekly. I very much enjoy doing community service as a way to give back to the community and to serve others, as well as to get to know new people, have new experiences, and explore different types of service with which I may want to be involved in the future (I hope to work in the service/non-profit field as a career). This is a large part of the reason that I chose to take this class.