In the Fall of 2016, I was a high school senior ready to take on the world and had a terrible case of senioritis. It didn't help any that most of my friends went to college in my home town. I felt like I was 110% ready to join my friends in college life.

I kind of felt like I was living a double life. By day I was attending high school then in the afternoon, I would go and hang out at the college campus with my friends. I loved being on campus and couldn't wait for my time to actually live and be free like my friends were.

That was until one dreary day in the fall of 2016. I had been invited by one of my friends to come onto campus, go to the dining hall and watch a movie. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity to hang out with my friend because I knew their fall break was coming up soon and I wouldn't get to see them for a while.

Everything was very normal, we went to the dining hall. We saw some of our mutual friends and ate lunch with them. My friend and I walked back to her dorm to watch a movie as we planned and that's when things went terribly south.

As soon as I entered her dorm room she started kissing me. I tried to push her away from me but she was stronger then I. Before I knew it, I was in a situation I very much did not want to be in. My shirt had been taken off and she was touching me. A person I considered my friend and never imagined hurting me, hurt me.

I made a silly excuse that I needed to use the bathroom and quickly put my clothing on. She seemed disappointed and asked if we could have sex. I declined and went to the bathroom.

While in the bathroom I called my dad to pick me up early. I'm not sure if he heard something in my voice, but he didn't ask any questions and agreed to pick me up. When I returned to her room we watched the movie we were planning on watching, which I still to this day I can not watch. She continued to touch me and kiss me.

I told her that my work had called me in early so I could leave when my dad arrived. My dad picked me up and we didn't say a word in the car. I went home go changed and went to work.

After everything happened I told my friends about it because I didn't know what I should do about it or what I even could do. Many of my friends were associated with the LGBT group on campus, so I thought they would be able to help me. But I was terribly wrong. They silenced me, they helped to protect her and not me, I was even told: "It would have happened to you anyways."

Because of her association with the LGBT group, she was shielded from persecution. While I who was not a student of that college was pretty much cast to the side. I was 18 years old at that time, and I still do not feel safe going on to that campus, even driving past brings up trauma and I instantly feel like I am going to throw up.

I thought the trauma would be over when I left and went home. But it didn't stop there, everything instantly resurfaced when I came to college my freshman year. Although it was not the same campus, far from it. I still felt this overwhelming feeling, especially while living in the dorms. Just imagine the thing I had been dreaming of for so long became a nightmare for me.

I couldn't explain why everything was falling down around me, because I had kept silent for so long. Afraid of losing my friends and support system at the time. I never even told my parents about it. I was just so afraid of all of it coming back on to me like it already had.

So I suffered in silence. Keeping my story tucked so deeply at the bottom of my heart that maybe I'd forget what happened to me. So that I could keep living and doing what I needed to do. I blamed myself for it happening for so long, but that's over now.

It was not my fault, and it never was. It was her fault, and my friends were at fault for not supporting me. No one was there for me except for myself. I had to be strong for myself, I had to live for myself, and now I have to speak out for myself. York College is not a safe campus for women, just like all college campus it harbors the threat, which in the right conditions causes long-lasting trauma to other people. I hope that my story may help someone who feels alone in a similar situation.