Where Have I Been and Where am I Going?

My name is Jennifer Shlyam and I lived my whole life in Brooklyn, NY and I am currently living in Manhattan. When I was 14, I went with my mother to the Manhattan AIDS walk in Central  Park. I never really understood what the disease was and its affect on society until I was about 13 years old, and after that I went, not because my parents dragged me with them, but for the people there. I let the inspiration in their eyes become mine and the same fire that drove everyone walking those five or so miles became a fire for me to help society. HIV/AIDS is an affliction that affects more people than you would even think of, one in every six people you see on the streets of NYC have HIV/AIDS. I didn’t know these people, but this walk made me want to connect to every single one of them.

As an 11 year old one could say I didn’t have many values to strive off, rather I didn’t even know how “values” affected me or if I had any. Whenever I thought “values” I thought my mother telling me how to save money at the local CVS. I thought 3 for .99 and I thought money. I never knew what human values were. Those fives miles taught me that, as corny and cliche as if from my favorite disney movies that teach you a lesson in the end, that the true values really do come from the inside. I was an 11 year old kid running around an AIDS walk asking everyone if they had AIDS, not because I was a curious, inconsiderate little brat, no, I genuinely wanted to get to know them and each of their respective stories.

I came into college for education but moreover for the social experience. I am from a the hottest melting pot in the world. I came from Brooklyn, straight out of the pot, and into the frying pan which is Manhattan. Every face on the train is different, whether it be in color, age or simply countenance. It’s everything I could’ve asked for. As a student in Baruch I want to soak in the diversity and learn as much as I can from everyone’s own unique story. My only concern is not getting enveloped in it too much that it affects my studies.