Robert Coppel: A Teenager at 34 Years of Age

TeenSource: What does a 34 year-old teenager do for a living?

Robert Coppel: [Laughing]. I let other teens tell me what to do and how to do it! Actually, I was hired at CFHC back in 2000 and immediately started working on an idea I that came to me while I was in charge of the Teen Clinic and the Outreach and Education Department at Valley Community Clinic. Back then, I was hiring and training teens to do outreach make presentations at middle schools, continuation schools, colleges, halfway houses, runaway shelters, foster homes. I loved that we could provide education in a way that was entertaining. You know, we made it kind of funny, we made it interesting. I could be funny and educate on sexual and reproductive health at the same time. My idea was to provide something like that on a much larger scale - so I got the idea to develop a website, which is now TeenSource.org, a site about reproductive health specially designed for teens. It has music videos, hilarious skits, celebrity testimonials, links to clinics, a lot of stuff for teens presented in a way that makes a difference to them. That's what I do.

TeenSource: So now that you've realized your dream of helping teens sort out sexual health matters, do you have another dream to fulfill?

Robert Coppel: Yes, my own teen center. It would be huge! A place where teens could come to access all different kinds of services, learn, get together. We would focus on living a healthy teen life that leads to living a healthy adult life...through education and especially art. I think that there are a lot of teens with talent out there who aren't developing those talents just because of the lack of resources for them. I think there are a lot of things teens would like to learn, but they don't have the right opportunities. I'd like to have a center run by teens where they could learn about new things they're interested in and where the creative energy would come from them.

TeenSource: You work with teens and write about teens, but you're 34 years old. How do you keep the connection? The fact is, you're no longer a teen.

Robert Coppel: Right. But I'm 34 going on 19! You know, as much as I try, I don't seem to grow up. I don't feel like I'm above anybody. I've matured but I haven't grown up. There's a big difference and I don't think I'll ever let that go - it keeps me happy.

TeenSource: How old were you when you got involved in reproductive health?

Robert Coppel: I was 20 and it was completely accidental. I'd been out of high school for two years and my plan was to go to college, but I was working construction at the time. Working construction you start really early in the morning and work long hours. Going to school and working construction at the same time just wasn't an option. Anyway, I was living on my own so I had to work and pay the rent and pay my bills. I wanted to go to school, but I just didn't know how to balance things. My friend Demetrius Navarro, who's an actor, was already working at the Valley Community Clinic, doing plays on HIV at different schools. All that time, he was talking to me about his work, talking to me about using condoms. There I was at 18, 19, 20 having unprotected sex, you know. And there he was trying to get through to me by telling me about his plays. Then he told me about a job opening at Valley and I got it. They hired me with no experience and agreed to train me as an HIV/AIDS Educator because Demetrius recommended me.

TeenSource: How hard was it to make the leap from construction worker to sexual health educator?

Robert Coppel: It wasn't easy! I started going to the plays and the presentations. Each time, I would learn something new. Something else would stick and everything started coming together. I was in an environment where everybody was just conscious of safe sex - it was one of those things where you're around a whole different way of thinking. The cool part was taking the information directly to the teens at the schools. It didn't matter who you were or what you were. Our goal was to make sure that everybody had the information and understood it.

TeenSource: What happened after that?