Can you imagine one of your friends going missing for a month? Can you fathom how hard it would be for your parents to hear the news that their son or daughter is nowhere to be found? Can you grasp the devastation that you’d have if you were searching for a someone, only to find their remains?
In light of the Hannah Graham situation, where the University of Virginia student was last seen on September 12th, those questions – and so many others – are ones we as college students should take very, very seriously. For the most part, we all go out. Whether it’s one night a week or five nights a week, we all do it. We start to drink and our “I am invincible” coat of armor is cloaked over us to the point that we, on occasion, make choices that we otherwise wouldn’t have made had we been sober.
I know I have had my fair share of nights where I felt that I could walk the few blocks back to my apartment safely on my own. I have made silly mistakes when I go out with my friends, many of which have resulted in no repercussions. Many times, I’ve arrived home safely from a night of drinking, unscathed, laughing at how saying things like, “oh my gosh, so-and-so did this” and, “did you see that guy she went home with?”. These are just afterthoughts the next morning – so funny, right? Yeah, not so much anymore.
It’s sad that it takes a situation such as Hannah Graham’s to snap us college students out of our delusional, fairy-tale state of mind that we latch onto during a night of drinking – we think we can simply do whatever we please during an innocent night out with friends. Unfortunately, that’s not the world we live in.
As a student at Florida State University, here are just a few tips on staying safe on your night out:
1. Always have a back-up plan. You and your friend may say to each other at the beginning of the night that you won’t separate, but inevitably, it does happen. A few drinks down, many hours later, and you find yourself frantically stumbling through crowds of drunk people to find your friend to venture home together, but you can’t find them. Make sure you know of someone who is staying in for the night that is willing and able to pick you both up when you are in need of a ride. Do not even think about getting into a car of someone inebriated, or worse, drive home yourself. 2. Look out for each other. I don’t care if you are Greek or non-Greek, we have to look out for one another. I recently had a situation where I came across an intoxicated girl walking home from the bar, clearly not knowing what she was doing or where she was going. For a second I thought, she doesn’t know me, so that would be weird if I helped her, right? Then I thought to myself, what if I am the last person to see her? I made up my mind, made the right decision, and took her back to her apartment. Still to this day I don’t know if she knew who helped her out, but it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you do the right thing. 3. Utilize the security measures FSU offersI know we have a love/hate relationship with the FSU PD, but at the end of the day, they are here to help you. Don’t be afraid to go up to one of them for help. Also, the FSU Guardian system is a personal security service provided by FSUPD which turns your mobile phone into a safety device once you sign up. It’s a free app accessible to all FSU staff and students. All of us should be using it.
I can only imagine the devastation that the UVA campus is facing, and my heart and prayers go out to the family and friends of Hannah Graham. Let us take this opportunity and learn from it, make wise decisions, and be safe Seminoles.
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