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Being a Point Scholar means that I have the opportunity to create a Community Service Project each year. This year, I am building off work that I did last year and creating a program that will offer free HIV tests to all students at Grinnell College. I think when we hear about people or organizations […]
“Hola tío, que majo eres!” Since arriving in Madrid in January for my study abroad program, this was one of the first phases that left me confused when I began my time at the Colectivo LGBT+ de Madrid (COGAM: LGBT+ Collective of Madrid). I had to ask the volunteer who said it, “what does ‘majo’ […]
Habari! Greetings from Kenya! I am currently writing to you from a tent set near the foothills of Amboseli National Park, where I’ve had the pleasure of waking up to the howl of baboons and cackle of hyenas. And, it is within this unique setting that I felt the need to tell you about what […]
For my community service project this year, I chose to compile sexual health resources that were specifically made with LGBTQ youth in mind. It felt like something that would be relatively easy to complete in my free time between my course load, job, activism work, and other on-campus commitments, as well as something that would […]
“What do you think is the biggest barrier to viral suppression?” “Stigma.” I scribbled this down on my clipboard. It was my fifth interview with care providers at AIDS Project East Bay (APEB), and the fifth time that stigma had come up as a major barrier to viral suppression for people living with HIV. At […]
Since the start of this semester, I have been interning at the North Carolina AIDS Action Network (NCAAN). Thanks to an Elton John AIDS Foundation internship secured by Point Foundation, I can assist NCAAN without a cost to this nonprofit organization. After accepting my sexuality as a gay man, one of my […]
Though born in the far northern realm of Maine, I was an early transplant to the South. My family settled in Georgia when I was four years old, and my entire education has taken place here: kindergarten through high school, then on to college, and now medical school. I received a fantastic education, though not […]
This summer was a big one for me. Not only was it my first formal internship, but it was also the first time I spent any extended period outside of California (although I had a great time, I now know for sure that the West Coast is the best coast). I spent this summer in […]
This summer I completed a 10-week internship at Lambda Legal’s national headquarters in New York through the generous support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Although the majority of my work focused on HIV research and outreach to marginalized communities, which forms the bulk of my current interests in LGBTQ advocacy work, being a part […]
Thanks to a grant from the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), a number of Point Scholars have the wonderful opportunity to intern with organizations that are directly impacting the daily lives of those at risk for, or living with HIV/AIDS. Wells Fargo Point Scholar Marcus Lee tells us about his experience working with Atlanta’s Evolution Project: As […]