Welcome to the Boulder County AIDS Project student blog!

So what are four college students doing writing a blog for a non-profit?   

We are all currently enrolled in an upper division writing and rhetoric class at the University of Colorado.  Our particular section is special in that it is a service learning course that allows us to work with nonprofits in the Boulder area.

The Visionary - Anna MacBriar 

Our group was paired up with Boulder County AIDS Project (BCAP) in order to create a blog with a fresh and open perspective about our impressions concerning HIV/AIDS.  Already in meeting with BCAP and through research I was astonished to hear some things that I had previously been ignorant to.  For example, did you know that HIV can get passed down by a mother infected with HIV breast-feeding to their child? Moreover, I was further enlightened that you can never really tell if someone is infected with HIV.  A great reminder that I should always be having safe sex and that is never a bad idea to get tested. (Facts found on BCAP.org)

BCAP provides free condoms and testing for HIV!

*When acquiring a new sex partner, abstain or use condoms for three months and then get tested for HIV. If both partners are HIV-negative and not engaging in other risk behaviors like sharing needles or having other sex partners, you do not have to worry about HIV infection. (http://lifelongaidsalliance.org/hivprevention)

Tile memorial wall at BCAP

Our group consists of four business students at the University of Colorado: Alex Lane a senior finance major, Taylor Stephan a junior marketing major, Zach Kincaid a junior marketing major, and myself Taylor Petersen a senior accounting major.                           

   

Throughout our fall semester we will document our individual experiences in working with BCAP.  We hope to blog about such things as getting tested for HIV/AIDS, interviewing BCAP’s experienced staff, speaking with clients, attending BCAP events, and further learning about fellow student’s impressions on HIV/AIDS.  More specifically, you can look forward to us diving into such issues as the effect of the new health care legislation on those affected by HIV/AIDS and researching and experiencing projects dedicated to the remembrance of those lost to AIDS (http://www.rememberproject.org/).

The overall goal of our blog is to provide different college student’s perspectives on HIV/AIDS, spread awareness to the student population, and to personally gain a greater understanding of HIV/AIDS!                                                                                      

For the next few blogs we will be posting individual bios in order to share more about ourselves and our impressions about HIV/AIDS. 

The Bloggers (Zach, Taylor S., Alex, Taylor P.)