525,600

This weekend I saw a spectacular performance of “Rent,” one of my favorite Broadway musicals put on by Hoof ‘n’ Horn. It got me started thinking about numbers.

The catchphrase from Rent’s opening song, “Seasons of Love,” is the number of minutes in a year, 525,600. Compare this to more than 25 million—the number of people who have died of AIDS worldwide since its discovery in 1981. Or 33.4 million—the number of people who were, as Rent’s “La Vie Boheme” would proclaim, “living with, not dying from” HIV/AIDS at the end of 2008. As members of the developed world, we tend to have more relevant issues threatening our nation: the economy, terrorism or poverty within our own borders. In our daily lives, we focus on the more immediate task at hand.

Even taking into consideration recent national and international tragedies, compared to the 200,000 people lost in the Haiti earthquake, the 4,287 Americans killed in Iraq and the 2,973 Americans who died in the 9/11 attacks, AIDS is still the leading cause of death in developing nations and the number one cause of death in Africa. A recent study predicted that within the next 25 years, AIDS will join heart disease and stroke as the top three causes of death in the world. Team America parodies Rent with the song “Everyone has AIDS.” The irony is in how we have forgotten about the millions who live with the disease.

Since 1994, Rent, put simply, a rock musical about AIDS, or more expansively, a cultural phenomenon, has brought back one of the world’s most important issues to the table. Through the performance of its characters who are more alive near death than some healthy people will ever be, Rent showcases love that makes no distinction between race, gender or sexuality. Aside from its soundtrack, I believe that it is this story of survival, hope and the human condition that has captivated audiences and has allowed the musical to deliver its political message to the world.

Rent measures “the last year on earth” of seven friends in Lower East Side Manhattan in “daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee, in inches, in miles, in laughter, [and] in strife.” Although it would be ludicrous to compare second semester senior year to the experience of those living with disease, I am inspired by the characters in Rent who face the great unknown with courage and compassion, and even more by the individuals who live their reality. Their fate and mine are not nearly the same, but at times I too feel as if I live with a deadline, waiting for the end of my life at Duke. I’ve learned from Rent, however, that in these last few weeks the greatest joy is not in the numerous activities one can do but just being alive at Duke itself. As the cast of Rent sings, “I can’t control my destiny. My only hope is just to be.”

There are 151,200 minutes in one semester. As of today, there are 31 days left before graduation. Looking back, I won’t remember the “report cards” and, in Duke’s case, not “speeding,” but parking tickets. Instead, I measure in interviews, bonfires, Common Ground retreats, late night sing-alongs, concerts at the Coffeehouse, free T-shirts, friendships, relationships and championship games. And, of course, I measure in love.

Despite the mistakes that have been made, forget regret, otherwise life—and these last 43,200 moments so dear—are yours to miss. Before I go, I take from Mimi Marquez and Roger Davis the lesson that there is no other course— no other way—but to live like there’s no day but today. “There is no future and there is no past. I live this moment as my last.”

Sue Li is a Trinity senior. This is her final column.