Positive Thoughts – Passing the Torch: Almost a quarter-century after his passing, Pedro Zamora continues to inspire future generations & help in the fight against HIV

I recently had the honor of attending a private fundraiser for the Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship, a program of the National AIDS Memorial Grove (NAM). And I say "honor" for many reasons.

Back in 1994, when The Real World: San Francisco first aired, I was a depressed, poor, lonely and questioning teen. I did have one close friend, who was also lonely and questioning – and who had even more mental health issues than me! Yippee! We both had experienced different traumas in our lives, and both had been somewhat ostracized from normal teen life. But we were also funny, smart, talented and, admittedly, pretty geeky. We were the real-life counterparts to the characters in the ’90s MTV animated series, Daria – a match made in suburban teen hell.

One big difference between us was that her family had money. Her father worked in...