Blog by Julie S.

Thursday March 20th, 2014


Today we had the special privilege to conduct a group discussion with Dr. David Ho, the scientific director of Aaron Diamond Aids Research center also recognized for his major contribution to the discovery of the "cocktail therapy" used worldwide. The previous night, we were given a brief introduction on Dr. Ho's research and his significant role in the study of retroviral diseases. During this time we had the opportunity to devise questions we were curious to ask Dr. Ho. We were all honored to hold a discussion with Dr. Ho himself. We were provided answers to questions that were not published anywhere else, but only discussed in the room we had gathered.

Afterwards, we visited the TCC center. Today, the center was celebrating all of the residents born in the month of March. The place was jamming with hits ranging from the 70s-80s. Residents were socializing, breaking moves on the dance floor, and singing along in enjoyment. It was so exciting to see the residents radiating with positive energy and excitement. To my surprise, many of the residents I assumed were quite reserved had shown a completely different yet fun side to themselves. It made me really happy to see smiles across all of the resident's faces.

At the beginning of the party, I sat next to Mr. Alan. I first asked him,  'How is your day?' he replied with a smile looking up to the sky 'Well, i'm so happy I woke up, I get to live another day, I woke up'. These people are counting days while I have yet to truly understand how beautiful life really is. His words really left a deep imprint in me and offered me motivation that instant to change my perspective of life. By appreciating all the small pieces in life that are integral to creating the grand picture, life can truly be so much more meaningful.

Towards the end of the party, I met up with James for the second time. He had brought his poetry book with him to share. As several of us were playing spades with James, I had the opportunity to look through several of his poetry pieces. By reading through just two lines of his poetry, I was already struck in awe. His technical, witty, and powerful writing made me doubtful whether or not James had really written these pieces, but of course he had written all of these amazing pieces of his anthology. His pieces of work all deserve to be more publicized and recognized.