Meet David
David grew up in Riverside, California and moved to Los Angeles in 1996. He attended the University of Southern California and majored in theatre. David has worked in the entertainment industry, bartended and is currently working as a financial analyst for a major corporation. David found out he was HIV positive in October 2003 at the age of 25 after a routine HIV test. Needless to say, he was floored. He was always the one who practiced "safer sex" and was always cautious about STDs. “How could this be happening to me?” he thought. He was re-tested and the results were the same. It was pure devastation. He figured he must have gotten it through unprotected oral sex, a practice he considered "safe" at the time. The next eight months were extremely difficult. What did being HIV positive mean in today's world? On one hand there are medications now and people are healthier and stronger. But on the other hand people are still dying from this disease. He didn't know what to believe. Depression, never-ending thoughts of death and illness, regret and anger were now part of his everyday routine. After the support of some great friends, he learned that life goes on . . . the rent still needs to be paid, nieces and nephews still need an uncle who will hug them and play with them and friends still need to be cheered on. Before he knew it, there was joy again and happiness and love. Slowly but surely, these things started to creep back into his life. Not a day goes by that David doesn't think about HIV in some way or another. And no part of his life was left untouched. Yes, life goes on, but it is a completely 100% without-a-doubt totally different life. "What about dating?" "Will I ever have kids?" "Should people at work know?" "Will my friends accept me?" "How long will the meds work?" These are questions that he still thinks about from time to time. Nonetheless, he is grateful to have the life he has. David is grateful because he has made his experience with HIV an expression in helping and educating others. He hopes that his message will help many young people by giving a human face to this disease and letting them know that this disease does not have to happen to them. Being both Black and Korean, David has a specific interest in reaching men and women of color who are often times under-represented but now represent the majority of new HIV infections. David feels that it is only through open dialogue about safer sex, HIV and the role that culture plays that people will start to make more informed decisions about protecting their bodies. In addition to being a speaker at Hope's Voice, in his spare time David also volunteers at AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) and Project Angel Food. He also hopes that his work will eventually take him to Africa either full or part time, where he wants to work to fight poverty and AIDS.
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