By Daniel Batalla

Daily Titan Columnist

I was surprisingly calm considering I had never had an HIV test before. I didn’t think I had anything to worry about, but on the drive to get tested, I couldn’t help but wonder.

Since the pandemic was identified in 1981, AIDS has claimed the lives of 25 million people worldwide.

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, which attacks the body’s immune system, making an individual more susceptible to opportunistic infections.

Though there are treatments that can slow the course of the disease, there is no known cure for AIDS.

Personally, I’ve never felt better; I’m eating healthier and training for my first marathon. But the fact that I had never had an HIV test before began to weigh on my mind.

I decided to stop by my local “Out of the Closet” to get tested.

“Out of the Closet” is a chain of thrift stores located throughout California that makes it easy to get tested. It is run by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

As I walked into the store, a young woman named Aurora greeted me. “Are you here to get tested?” she asked. I nodded.

She pointed to a dotted line and asked me to sign on her clipboard.

I followed her to a small room toward the back of the store.

I was relatively composed when I traveled to the store. I kept telling myself over and over, “There’s nothing to worry about. You’ll be fine.”

But sitting in that chair, in that store, being asked a number of questions about my sexual history, I was forced to confront all of the bad decisions I had made in the past.

“Are you familiar with how the test works?” Aurora asked. Nervously, I told her I had never been tested.

I was somewhat familiar with the process, but I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.

She went on to tell me about the three-inch needle that would be stuck into my arm.

I don’t remember the last time I felt such a sense of panic come over me. My entire body went numb.

Not only was I worried about the test results, but I was apparently going to have to face my bloodcurdling fear of needles.

She must have seen the look of terror on my face, because almost immediately she confessed, “I’m just kidding.” Great! I was being tested by a comedian.

It turned out the process would consist of simply rubbing the inside of my mouth with a cotton swab. That I could handle.

In the past I’ve made it a point to practice safe sex. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t risks when you dive under the covers with someone.

In middle school, we were taught that unprotected sex can lead to a number of ailments – including gonorrhea, herpes, syphilis, HIV and AIDS. I recalled those lectures. I pictured the slides my seventh grade teacher projected onto the wall of disease-ridden sexual organs.

As I waited for the test results, Aurora and I chatted. She asked me questions about my sexual experiences, why I chose to get tested and whether I felt I had anything to worry about.

I told her I just wanted to make sure everything was OK.

She continued by informing me of the accuracy of the test.

“Just to let you know, this test is 99.9 percent accurate,” she said. “But the most accurate results come from being tested six months after your last sexual encounter.”

I assured her that if this was the case, then my results would be extremely accurate.

After 20 minutes of conversation. she asked me if I had any other questions before she read me my results.

I told her “no.”

“Your test results came back negative,” she said with a smile.

I wanted to hug her but opted for a handshake and a “thank you” instead.

As I left the back office and made my way through the racks of vintage clothing, Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” began to play on the overhead speakers.

I couldn’t help but think, “Yeah, it is pretty wonderful.”