After three weeks of canceling appointments, Ann, a junior in education, finally walked in to an HIV testing site with her best friend. Sitting nervously in the waiting room, she waited to take a test that could change her life.

When Ann’s name was called, she was escorted by a nurse into a laboratory where she was asked personal questions. After a short informational session, Ann, who asked not to be identified, had her blood taken.

“The actual test wasn’t that bad. It was the time period before I received my results that was stressful,” she said.

Two weeks later she returned to the clinic. Ann had considered not going back, but with a friend’s support she took a deep breath and went in.

“I just kept telling myself that I was going to be positive and the knot just kept growing in my stomach,” she said. “I had worried myself to a point of sickness.”

Ann and her friend walked down a long hall to the room where they would receive the results.

The counselor came in. “I just kept thinking that she was going to tell me that I was HIV positive,” she said. The counselor told Ann’s friend that she had tested HIV negative and then turned to Ann. There was a long, chilling moment of silence — she said — and then the counselor told Ann that she, too, was HIV negative.

Taking an HIV test brings about anxiety for many students. Experts say the anxiety can be so extreme that people may be too afraid to take the test.

“Having a fear to take an HIV test is normal, but the fear of a test result must be overlooked in order for our society to conquer this wide-spreading disease,” said Pam Carnine, director and counselor at the AIDS Coalition of Story County.

Carnine said taking a test benefits both society and the individual. The earlier a person knows that he or she is infected with the HIV virus, the sooner treatment can start. Knowledge of an HIV-positive test may help slow the spread of the disease.

Carnine said everyone has the ability to help the fight against AIDS. Taking an HIV test is the first step.

“People have the right to risk their own health, but they do not have the right to risk others’ health,” Carnine said. “A person has no business to have denial and then put others at risk.”

The tests are nearly 100 percent accurate in detecting HIV antibodies. The antibodies detected usually take from a few weeks to a few months to develop. For this reason, a test may not be accurate for recently infected individuals.

Carnine said the average HIV test lasts about one hour.

“If you’ve put yourself at risk, then there should be no reason not to take a test. If they are involved in a risky activity they must be responsible enough to pay the price,” said Amanda Gardner, a sophomore in education.

Carnine said it is important for a person to receive an HIV test if they have ever shared needles, received a tattoo or body piercing, had sexual intercourse, hemophilia, received a blood transfusion prior to 1985 or have had a sexually transmitted disease.

Due to the anxiety that comes along with the HIV test, counseling plays an important role in the testing process. Carnine said many people receive counseling before they take the actual test, and sometimes counselors will actually go to the testing sight with an individual.

Counseling before the test can help a person understand what the test can and can’t tell him or her. “I do have a fear of being tested, but I think I could do it if I had someone getting tested at the same as me,” Gardner said. “I would feel safer going through the testing process with someone else who I know is experiencing the same thing.”

Even though fear is commonly felt during the testing process, Carnine said the reality of AIDS — still incurable — makes testing a necessity.

“That’s just fine if people don’t want to get tested because of fear, but I hope every one of them goes home tonight and super glues their knees together,” Carnine said. “It’s a personal choice, but a person has no right to make that choice and put others at risk.”