Tom Donohue sat among students gathered in Weasler Auditorium. He looked like them, acted liked them and dressed like them. But as he walked from the attentive crowd to the front of the stage, he revealed why he was not.

In recognition of World AIDS Day Thursday, Donohue met with over 100 students in the Weasler Auditorium to discuss his struggles with the HIV virus and to spread HIV awareness.

At the age of 24, Donohue discovered he was HIV positive. Now, two years later, the Penn State student and founder of the nonprofit organization Who's Positive, he lives to educate others.

"HIV not only infects you, but it affects everyone around you," Donohue told his audience.

While 8,000 people die of AIDS each day worldwide, the virus affects an uncountable number of lives daily. Donohue brought this statistic to life through a detailed retelling of his own experience with the virus and an activity requiring audience participation.

Prior to his speech Donohue had given each audience member a folded and sealed card that read "positive" or "negative" to symbolize the average sexually active individual's chances of contracting HIV. Donohue invited audience members to share their feelings and emotions concerning this symbolic exercise.

"The cards were very effective," said Trevor Owen, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences who first met Donohue last year at the Washington, D.C. conference.

During his speech Donohue stressed that HIV/AIDS does not discriminate and can infect anyone who puts themselves at risk, and he strongly suggested that any student at risk be tested for HIV/ AIDS.

"The choices you make today can certainly determine your future," he said.

Now Donohue is determined to help others make healthy and educated decisions.

"I keep going because I know what I'm doing is making a difference," he said. "My one voice echoes across the entire country. It's just one voice, but it's making a difference."

In addition to testing, Donohue encourages all students to get involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

"(World AIDS Day) is about bringing awareness," he said. "But it s also about getting involved."

Aarti Bhatt is the treasurer of Watumishi, a student-run organization that aims to raise awareness about AIDS both in the U.S. and abroad.

"I thought it was great," Bhatt, a sophomore in the College of Health Sciences, said.

It's worth all the hard work and effort of planning "if just one person takes this experience and learns something from it," he said.

After hearing Donohue speak at a conference in Washington D.C. last February, Watumishi had been working to bring Donohue to Marquette for World AIDS Day.

Refreshments and free HIV/AIDS testing followed the presentation, which was also sponsored by the BESTD Clinic, the Peer Health Educators, the Office of Student Development, Amnesty International and Jesuit University Students Together in Concerned Empowerment, or JUSTICE.