Although I had an inkling that doing research in psychology was the path I ultimately wanted to take in college, it wasn't until I took this honors class on HIV and AIDS that I became certain that this was an avenue I needed to pursue. Our in-depth lectures covered topics ranging all the way from intricate biological processes on a cellular level to global health disparities in access to treatment. We learned about the stigma which people with HIV face and how this is complicated by culture, religion, socioeconomic status, homophobia, and more. For our major project of the quarter, we were allowed to choose a country for which we would assess the incidence, prevalence, prevention, and treatment of HIV/AIDS. This was an intensive research paper, requiring us to do an in-depth search of existing literature from reliable sources, integrate our findings into a cohesive report, and also propose suggestions for how improve resources for persons with this virus. We also had to provide suggestions for this country should work to meet the 90-90-90 goal, which is to have 90% of persons living with HIV be aware of their status, for 90% of this individuals to be receiving antiretroviral therapy, and for 90% of these people to achieve viral suppression by 2030. During all of my time at UW, this is the only class assignment I have asked for an extension on, and I did this because I became so interested in this project and motivated to create a well-researched and fully-developed paper that I ended up writing a thirty page report (attached below). It is the drive and passion I felt when doing this research project that spurred me to finally search for a research assistant position in a clinical psychology lab on campus, and I have never looked back.