St. Louis is regularly recognized as having the highest rate of STIs (sexually transmitted infections) in the country. And in a sexually-charged environment like college, Washington University students are no strangers to STIs either.

I’m sure that most of you would rather be thinking about blow jobs, porn or even anal sex instead of sexually transmitted diseases and infections. But I’m also sure that most of you are unaware that April is STI Awareness Month, thanks to a partnership between MTV, the Kaiser Family Foundation, Planned Parenthood, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and our own Student Health Services (SHS).

I grew up knowing all the facts about STDs. Before they became STIs, the most common STDs identified by my high school and middle school counselors were gonorrhea, chlamydia and genital herpes.