Las Vegas, Nevada
Positive since 2014

It was a morning like any other. I decided to go to get my regular HIV test. All was well. I decided to go home when suddenly my phone rang. It was the clinic and they told me they wanted me to redo the exam because something was weird.

After the second test, I found out I was HIV positive. I remember crying as I had never done. The news was hard to digest, but thankfully my family, my partner and my friends were always there to help me and still are supporting me.

My world changed, but I’ve always been a healthy person. It made me appreciate life more than ever before.

What three adjectives best describe you?
Passionate, loyal and a friend

What is your greatest achievement?
Overcoming my illness

What is your greatest regret?
Lying to my partner

What keeps you up at night?
My students. I’m a kids’ dance teacher

If you could change one thing about living with HIV, what would it be?
Some side effects of the treatments

What is the best advice you ever received?
Life goes on. Do not let yourself fall.

What person in the HIV/AIDS community do you most admire?
Lorenzo, my counselor

What drives you to do what you do?
My baby sister and my partner

What is your motto?
Live every day of your life as if it were the last.

If you had to evacuate your house immediately, what is the one thing you would grab on the way out?
My treatments and passport

If you could be any animal, what would you be? And why?
A dog. They are so loyal.