The Colorado Kid

Hey readers,

I am the last member of the group that is dedicated towards creating a blog for Boulder County Aids Project.  When we initially met with BCAP we were told about how we were supposed to share our honest, open perspectives on AIDS.  So I thought I would start by first sharing a little about myself.

My name is Taylor Petersen and I am currently a senior accounting major at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  I was born and raised a Buff fan in Littleton Colorado, and have loved my time at CU.  In my opinion there is no greater state than Colorado and no better school than CU.                                               

I am really close with my family which includes my mom Barb, dad Tom, younger sister Katherine, and younger brother and newest CU student Connor.   I love to travel, ski the Rocky Mountains, and cycle.  This summer I raised $5000 and cycled across the country to benefit people with disabilities. 

          

My experience with, as well as, my knowledge of AIDS is very limited.  While I was raised Catholic and grew up in a conservative area, I never heard anything negative about the disease.  In fact, the first real exposure that I had to the disease was in biology class in middle school.  I have never knowingly met anyone with AIDS to date.  Honestly, the only real thing that popped into my head about AIDS before working with BCAP was the famous basketball player Magic Johnson. 

However, in meeting with BCAP I was astonished to hear about the fact that over 200 new cases of HIV/AIDS have appeared within Colorado in the past year.  Moreover, through research I have become increasingly alarmed by some of the facts that have come up.  Did you know that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates there are about 1.1 million HIV-positive people in the United States. Of that number, they estimate 21 percent are unaware of their HIV status AIDSmeds.com.  That means that it is estimated that more than 200,000 people are out there completely clueless that they have the disease.  This is scary because they not only are people not getting proper treatment, but they could also unknowingly be passing on the disease.

On the bright side, I was so encouraged by how many resources a place like BCAP can provide to people infected with HIV.  I found it incredibly impressive that they are able to provide such things as medical care, pro bono professional services, a sense of community through support groups and mentor programs, and even a market with nutritional foods.  To check out a list of these services and more follow this link: http://www.bcap.org/what_case_service_programs.html.   

Overall, this semester I am curious to learn more about HIV/AIDS and see what I can do to help BCAP.