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Stop the Spread of HIV: Update Your Status with DoSomething.org!

Girls, if you think you aren’t at risk when it comes to HIV, think again.

It’s estimated by statistical studies that one in four college students will contract an STD during their time at school. What’s even scarier? 1 in 5 people are living with HIV and they don’t even know it.

But there’s something you can do about it! You can “update your status.” No, I’m not talking about your Facebook status, but DoSomething.org’s latest campaign. Starting today and running through February 14, DoSomething.org will be launching their Update Your Status campaign, urging young people (like you, collegiettes™!) to sign up and get tested for HIV. You can sign up at www.DoSomething.org/status and use the HIV testing locator to find a HIV testing center in their community. Upon completion, participants will have the option to update their Facebook status to share with friends the importance of getting tested.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Sign up with your email to tell them that you’re committed to helping stop the spread of HIV.
  2. If you don’t know your status, get tested. Check out their website to find your local testing center.
  3. Protect your friends. Enter their phone numbers and the site will send them a message from you to encourage them to get tested.
  4. Report back that you got tested (sweet Facebook swag)!
  5. Update your Facebook status. What should you say? Check out some suggestions.

Refer just 5 of your closest BFFs and you’ll be eligible to win one of four $500 scholarships! You can learn more at their website.

Alexandra is a graduate from the University of New Hampshire and the current Assistant Digital Editor at Martha Stewart Living. As a journalism student, she worked as the Director of UNH’s Student Press Organization (SPO) and on staff for four student publications on her campus. In the summer of 2010, she studied abroad at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, in England, where she drank afternoon tea and rode the Tube (but sadly no, she did not meet Prince Harry). Since beginning her career, her written work has appeared in USA Today College, Huffington Post, Northshore, and MarthaStewart.com, among others. When not in the office, she can be found perusing travel magazines to plan her next trip, walking her two dogs (both named Rocky), or practicing ballet. Chat with her on Twitter @allie_churchill.