Over this past summer, I was an intern at the Equitas HIV/STI Hotline. This primarily consisted of answer phone calls, emails, and chats with questions about sexual health. However, I also participated in sending out condom packs, at-home HIV testing kits, making buttons, and generally assisting around the office.

Throughout the course of the project, my understanding of myself changed in that I feel more confident in explaining different, sometimes taboo, concepts to others. I had known that I was comfortable discussing intimate topics with my friends, but I didn’t know I was capable of doing it with strangers. This experience had made me more confident with myself in general and I feel able to speak up for different issues now that I’ve done this internship.

My view of the world changed in that I didn’t realize how many people needed accurate sex education. I knew that sex education in schools was majorly lacking, but I didn’t realize to what extent. Many people don’t know the basics in terms of STIs and incurable diseases. The lack of knowledge in the questions I was asked showed me how much work still needs to be done in terms of education.

I got questions ranging from “Can my cat give my chlamydia?” to “Can I get HIV from masturbating?” Questions like these reminded me of how uneducated many people are in terms of sexual education. I was excited throughout the duration of this internship to give people accurate information and to alleviate some of the stress around transmission. Many people were relieved to hear they were not at risk of HIV as they had previously thought based on incorrect information. I went home feeling accomplished every day that I assisted someone in need.

Another aspect of my STEP experience that helped transform me into a more confident person was the relationships I formed with the other interns and volunteers. These interactions helped me to be more confident in what I have to say and voicing my opinions on different topics. Everyone who volunteers there has a different personality, but were all there with the same goal which helps in forming bonds. I learned as much from the people I worked with as I did through different presentations and lectures.

A final aspect of my STEP project that helped in transforming my character and expanding my depth of experience was leading condom packing parties every other week. Every other Tuesday, a volunteer group comes into Equitas to help pack condoms as we send out about 1,000 orders a week. Before I started this internship, I hated leading things as I thought I wasn’t qualified and was too young for anyone to take me seriously. While I did have some complications with my confidence in the beginning, after a few weeks I became comfortable in my position and began to effectively lead. As the weeks went on, I could tell that many of the regulars started to have more respect for me and took what I said more seriously.

These changes are significant in many different aspects of my life. In terms of professional goals, I feel more able to pursue different opportunities as I’m better able to articulate myself. Instead of awkwardly talking to different managers and supervisors, I can now voice what I can bring to the company and how my skills will be useful to their operation. This may open doors that were previously unavailable to me.

Along with helping my professional goals, my STEP experience can help in my academic career as it very directly relates to my major. Being a public health major, the topics of HIV and STIs come up frequently. It’s beneficial to have a strong background knowledge of the subject and be able to contribute to class discussions in a meaningful way. This has already come into play on a few different occasions, but specifically when I was in a class and the topics of HIV and STIs were brought up. One of the students was asking the professor question s that they didn’t know the answer to, such as “Why don’t people get tested for herpes?”. The professor wasn’t sure of the answer, so I was able to say that it’s because of its high prevalence and lack of harm to anyone carrying the virus. Different opportunities such as this have made being a public health major even more meaningful.