Thrive: How HIV Changed Everything

Thrive is my entire story...the whole thing...from the very beginning. The neglect and abuse I experienced as a child, the discovery of my identity as a gay man, my parents separation, my move through five different high schools, my escape from home. It's also some of my earliest writings, my speeches of activism at library board meetings, my journey through college to become the first in my family to obtain a bachelor's degree, my passion for music, my nerdiness, and the events surrounding my HIV diagnosis. It's a lot. It's powerful, and it's in your hands because I want others to know that it is possible to be successful in the face of incredible setbacks, failures, screwups, and shortcomings. This is how HIV was the catalyst that taught me to thrive.