I really felt bad for Kathy. What a beautiful young woman and she will die as a result of someone else's irresponsible actions. I really felt bad for her. What was nice to see was that she is doing as well as she possibly can at this moment. Perhaps the most important part of Kathleen's speech, was seeing her living with HIV and being classified as undetectable, but hearing her say that at any moment her situation could do a complete 180. That is really scary. It really shows and explains just how unpredictable this terrible disease is.

As for Rick, I feel bad that he has AIDS and will die from it, but I am very disturbed at how he contracted the disease. After hearing him talk, I was very torn as to whether or not to be sympathetic to his situation. I must say that I feel bad for him, but I have very little sympathy for him. You hear his story of how he thought his life was on a downward spiral, so he decided he would commit suicide to solve his problems. I lost a little respect for him right there. I can't stand those who use suicide as a quick escape route from life and their problems, all along never considering the others who would be affected. So, since Rick did not like blood, he decided to kill himself internally and contract what at that time was an unknown virus (HIV). Here is a man who knowingly infected himself as a quick way out of life. Unfortunately, what he thought would be a quick out, turned out to be a slow and painful 17 year out. Despite all of that, Rick's speech does make an impact on the class. His impact comes when he lays out all of his medications and explains what each does. What is even scarier is that only three of his medications are for his AIDS and the rest are just taken to ward off everyday sickness that any healthy person can ward off. After showing all of his daily medications, most of which no longer work on his body, he shows us his last resort medicine. The medicine wasn't scary; it was the fact that he called it his 'last resort'. When you are using the words 'last resort', you know that you are at the end. In fact during his whole speech, all I kept thinking was, "this poor guy won't be here in five years".

Another thing which really shocked me was when Rick pulled out a condom and sprayed it with WD-40. Man, that thing just exploded instantly. I never use lubricants during sex, but I have always known tat you should use water-based lubricants. I knew that oil-based lubricants were bad, but wow.

In conclusion, having these guest speakers come to class was a great thing. As college students, we all have the mentality that we are invincible. In a way, there is nothing wrong with that thought process. When you are in your 20's nothing should scare you. However we live in a new world where yo have to be aware of everything. HIV and AIDS need awareness among the youth of America and having people like Rick and Kathleen come in is a great way to spread awareness. I applaud you for thinking of us students and having them talk to us. It shows that you really care about us as students and more important the rest of the world. If you can prevent one case of AIDS, you are not only saving a life but bettering the world for my children and others.