Danielle Drake didn’t realize how much she would enjoy HIV counseling.
The human biology senior was encouraged by her cousin, a long-term survivor of the disease that can lead to AIDS, to help others living with HIV.
And after a year of training sessions and one-on-one experience, she is glad she got involved in the program through Olin Health Center.
“I’m a pre-med major, but who knows if I want to go to medical school,” Drake said. “I was just kind of searching, but I really like HIV counseling. I love it actually.
“It’s really rewarding.”
Another chance for Drake and other students to get involved with HIV prevention and understanding comes with World AIDS Day, the day of remembrance Friday for those who have died from the typically fatal disease.
World AIDS Day was created by the World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention in January 1988 to open communication about the disease and strengthen social tolerance for those who have it.
The national theme for World AIDS Day is “AIDS: Men making a difference.” The campus theme is “We ALL Make a Difference.” Activities planned by volunteers from Olin include a display of eight local panels of the AIDS quilt, and the decoration of 500 campus trees with the AIDS symbol - red ribbons.
The World AIDS Day Ribbon tie-up will be at 6:15 p.m. Thursday and interested volunteers should meet in room 247 of Olin.
Refreshments will be provided for volunteers, who will be helping to wrap 30-foot ribbons, which have each been labeled with the name of one person who has died from AIDS, around a tree on campus. Each ribbon will symbolize 1,000 people who have lost their battle with the disease.
Panels from the AIDS quilt will be on display from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at the Kresge Art Museum. The quilt was put together by the friends and families of people who have died from the disease as a positive way to remember them.
Nutrition science senior Emily Flowers, one of the coordinators for the university’s World AIDS Day ceremony, said the quilt is a beautiful reminder of the lives those with AIDS lived.
“We want to have people appreciate AIDS and appreciate people with AIDS, and realize they can make a difference,” she said. “They have to know what it’s like to live with (AIDS).”
Other events in the Lansing area include a candlelight procession that will be held at 5:45 p.m. Friday. The processional will begin at Lansing City Hall and will move to the holiday tree at the state Capitol. A dimming of the lights on the tree following the procession will commemorate those who have died, and the processional will continue to the Central United Methodist Church, 215 N. Capitol Ave. in Lansing, for a 6:30 p.m. remembrance service.
Dennis Martell, an Olin health educator who coordinated some World AIDS Day events, said the projected number of students with AIDS on an MSU-size campus is about one out of every 500. But Olin officials have had very few positive results out of the 700 HIV tests they give every year.
The health center provides several services to help educate students about issues such as drugs, sex and HIV and AIDS. Olin HIV testing is free, anonymous, and it takes a week to receive results.
