Nina, 25
When I Found Out:
December 11, 1991. I learned that people are most comfortable and accepting of my HIV positive status if I am comfortable and accepting of it first. You cannot expect approval from other people if you do not have it from yourself first.
How I was infected:
When I was six weeks old, I was given a blood transfusion to save my life. It was through this transfusion that I became HIV positive.
The biggest challenge I deal with living with HIV:
I have a hard time convincing others that living with HIV is a challenge given my exceptionally good health. It takes a lot of work to create and maintain my well-being. It is difficult for me as a peer educator to get young people to internalize their risk for HIV because I did not contract HIV the way most youth currently do. My story can be seen at times as a rarity, and because of this, people can downplay their self-perceived risk for HIV.
What I want to tell young people who say HIV can't happen to them:
Regardless of all the means by which HIV is transmitted, the one thread that HIV positive people have in common is that they never thought HIV could/would happen to them.
