It: A Student's Perspective

It broke into your house through keys, given to it unsuspectingly by your lover. It entered, alerting no one, and remained until the opportunity to strike was right. It knew that it could not commit the act alone, so it enlisted more of itself, producing copies at whim. There it sat, surrounded by its likeness, waiting in silence, waiting for years, waiting until the time was right to act. And act it did.

Of course you thought you were prepared. Your security system caught its presence and the police arrived, but this only allowed for the true beauty of its plan to finall come into view. As the police entered the building, without warning, they slowly removed their guns and, as if the marionettes in some twisted puppet show, killed themselves, all of them, one by one, completely removing your only line of defense. And there you sat, surrounded by it and its brethren, without security and without hope, knowing that you would soon wither away into nothingness.

This invader is not some imaginary creature, but a killer capable of doing everything described. This killer is AIDS. And it will enter your body through the unintentional actions of someone you love. And it will reproduce, creating more of itself that you can possibly imagine. And it will convince your defenses to detroy themselves. And it will kill you. Yet this predator can be prevented. It breeds in the irrational, drugs, and unsafe sex; fearing latex and clean needles. Stay away from its neighborhoods, unless you know something 30 million people don't.



About the Author

My name is Alex Moffett and I attend Rickards High School in Tallahassee Florida where I will be a senior. I am ranked first in my class and recently participated in the Florida Young Scholars Program. I would like to attend college at the University of Chicago, Swarthmore, Amherst, or the University of Virginia. I would like to earn a doctorate and eventually teach at a university.