Sexual assault has been an issue near to my heart for some time now. I’ve walked the journey of trying to bring a perpetrator to justice alongside some of my close friends. I’ve seen the eyes of victims trying to tell their story — come to terms with their story. And every time I hear someone’s story, I beg God for an opportunity to help.
Like every other time I’m faced with a problem I don’t have the solution to, I wrote my way to a solution. Light of Day is that solution, the catharsis and the way I found peace with all these stories wrestling inside of me.
To see it performed is an honor like no other. To receive over a hundred stories from victims, to be trusted firsthand with those accounts, is an honor like no other. To walk alongside an intelligent and immensely hard-working team to ask important questions is an honor like no other.
I want to change the world. I dream big, if anyone knows me. I want to take the world by my hands and flip it upside down. I dream of a world where sexual assault doesn’t exist anymore. Where power does not corrupt anymore. Where people believe women. And this project is doing that.
Most importantly, I’m accomplishing my goal of loving people. Loving all people who have been affected by this.
I had this thought as I was sitting on my living room floor, slowly wrapping cereal boxes with sheet music as a vessel for people’s stories: I wouldn’t be doing any of this if I didn’t love every single person who wrote me a story with all my heart. And that’s why I’m writing this article to you. To prove my love. Maybe if the love is strong enough, I can change the world.
Because it hasn’t been easy. I’ve gotten pushback, I’ve gotten criticism, I’ve gotten people misunderstanding my goals because of laziness. I’ve been juggling 101 things and afraid that any one I drop would cause the rest to come tumbling down around me.
But here we are. Practically done. And I just can’t help but think — will it be worth it? Will a conversation materialize around me or will people just push their heads back in the sand? Will I be able to handle the criticism? The bigotry? I can’t continue this fight forever. This was always supposed to be reins that I hand to another person: I have big goals. Goals that I can’t accomplish. Goals of a week-long, campus-wide, sexual assault awareness and prevention week. Open dialogue with honest answers. A revolution in how we support victims.
So here’s where you come in…again. If you think this is you, take the reins. I started off as an angry sophomore who had something to say and that voice is spreading around campus. I’m changing campus. I’m changing the world. And you can, too. Please, join me in this revolutionary love called action.
