It was a warm Thursday summer night. I had an eventful day of work, went to an outdoor summer concert with some friends, and was hosting a pregame at my apartment. My co-workers and I had been working our butts off all summer and decided we would go out together for a night of drinks and dancing. I had another job that required me to wake up at 7 a.m. and work with kids, so I knew I couldn't get too drunk.
The night started out perfectly. My friends and I jammed out to our favorite songs and took funny pictures, then ventured out to the bars. Everything seemed completely normal. I had only consumed a few drinks and felt completely in control.
After leaving a bar that has a reputation for being sketchy in my college town, I don't recall the rest of the night. At this bar, I remember being harassed by a guy and repeatedly telling him to leave me alone. I remember putting down my drink by my friends to head to the bathroom. After that, my mind goes blank.
Thankfully my good friend walked me home to my apartment door to make sure I got in. She told me I seemed like the normal drunk me, nothing too crazy or out of the ordinary. I seemed to be in control. At 3 a.m., my roommate found me on the floor of my bathroom with puke on me, naked and wet from trying to wake myself up in the shower. I knew something was wrong, but had absolutely no control over my body. I remember slapping myself in the shower, trying to wake up and thinking "Something is terribly wrong."
I'm a senior in college. I've had my share of fun nights, and I know what a hangover feels like. That next morning was not a regular hangover. I felt like I wasn't in my own body. I couldn't understand what had happened the night before and felt completely out of control. I felt like I wanted to die. After telling my mom and boyfriend the story, they both responded with the same statement: "I think you were drugged." After hearing this, I took a trip to the hospital, told my story and was given medication to help the sickness.
Since then, I have not been able to drink or go out with my friends like I have before. I haven't been able to feel completely carefree and normal at the bars. I haven't been able to erase the feeling of pure terror out of my head from the day after. We all hear horror stories of girls being drugged in college, but you never think it will happen to you. The harsh reality was that it happened to me.
But what I have been able to do is speak up and tell others my story. What happened to me that warm summer night was a nightmare, but now I know the signs, the dangers and how to be careful. Hopefully, some day I can help someone else avoid what happened to me, expose the dangers of being drugged and start a conversation about how to stop this problem.
