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Yup'ik Raven This collection of student work is from Frank Keim's classes. He wants to share these works for others to use as an example of culturally-based curriculum and documentation. These documents have been OCR-scanned and are available for educational use only.


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If I were Kerry by Jack George

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If I were Kerry

Hi! My name is Kerry. I am 20 years old. I'm infected with H.I.V. Now since there is no chance to turn back time all I can do is talk to people about H.I.V. So here I am talking to people about how life can be so harmful if you don't watch yourself. When I was young I was always trying to be perfect and make myself not hurt any of my friends by turning them down. That is why I got infected with the H.I.V. I was the most popular girl in school and I had many boyfriends. But I wasn't watching myself and I thought that having sex with my boyfriends was the only way to please them. But then when I was 14 years old I had sex with a guy I really fell for, and I didn't know he was infected with H.I.V. And now I have the virus too! He didn't know he was infected either. So now the both of us have the virus!

Now we both know we have short lives, and I regret trying to be the most popular girl when I was young. I mean I didn't know that my life would be ruined by just one person!

Anyway, after being diagnosed with HIV at 14, I started to check the doctor monthly to make sure I was doing fine. The doctor who treated me was Dr. Pain. Every month he'd do tests on me. When I was 15 it was really hard on me because I had hardly any friends. And I didn't have many people to talk to. By 16, most people had found out I had H.I.V. and I couldn't do the things I used to do anymore. Then when I was 17 I found out I was infected with AIDS. My parents had to start watching me very carefully and I had to be hospitalized for about 2 weeks because they were giving me medication. I didn't let anyone know about it because I didn't want a bad rep. It was really shocking for me because I could't believe I'd ever get the disease.

Before I die I'd like to tell you that even if you want to be the most popular person in your school, you don't have to have sex to make people like you.

By: Jack George

Is It Safe to Be a Friend?

Persons with HIV infection need friends who care and
understand.
You cannot catch HIV from an HIV-positive person who:

  • handles, cooks, or serves your food
  • uses the same toilet, telephone, or clothes
  • shares your drinking glass
  • touches, hugs, or kisses you
  • goes to work, school, church, the mall, the movies, or any other public place with you

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Go to University of Alaska The University of Alaska Fairbanks is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer, educational institution and provider is a part of the University of Alaska system. Learn more about UA's notice of nondiscriminitation.