When I received my letter from University of Detroit Mercy I was so excited I couldn't help but contain it. I had received a full scholarship AND direct admission into the nursing program, what more could I ask for?! I still remember the day I told my parents and my dads exact reaction, "Oh, that's awesome, but you're not going."
To give a bit of background information, I am the oldest of five kids and my dad is super old school Sicilian. For those of you who probably don't know why that's significant in this, it means I pretty much wasn't allowed to do anything. Well, unless I hid it from him.
It took me four months to convince my dad to let me go to college in Detroit. Four months to convince my parent to let me go to a university that was highly accredited for their medical programs with a full scholarship, oh, excuse me. My dad likes to see the world for all the horrible that it is and strictly how he grew up.
When my dad finally decided to be reasonable and let me go to school, I was ecstatic. I still remember the morning I woke up and heard him tell me it was a go. Right after he said those words he handed me a bottle of pepper spray. "You'll be in Detroit, I can't be there so this is the next best thing." Oh, OK.
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, more than 90 percent of sexual assaults on college campuses go unreported. This is because many women hear about other victims being forced to relieve the nightmare of what they went through again only to get to the end and hear that there will be no justice taken. As a young adult female, I want to feel safe. I want to feel protected if God forbid anything were to happen. I wouldn't want to be another statistic, another number, another unheard voice.
Because I am a girl I fear for these things. I was taught to be ten times more precautions and ten times more aware of my surroundings at all times. Whether it is walking to my car from a late night class or running a quick errand, the fear and possibility is always there. Because I am a girl, I was handed that bottle of pepper spray. Because I am a girl, I was sheltered growing up. Because I am a girl, all the TV shows and news reports seem a million times scarier. Because I am a girl, I must dress a certain way and present myself in a manner that is neither promiscuous or misread. Because I am a girl, this fear will always be there. Because I am a girl, I will raise my children, especially my sons, to grow up and learn how to make a girl feel safe and comfortable.
Because I am human, I know I could be in that position one day and I know I am not the only one who will forever be feared because of it.
