***Trigger Warning: this article contains discussion and stories about sexual assault***

The awareness surrounding the topics of sexual assault, misconduct and the resources available for survivors have increased immensely in the past 10 years or so.

The media has been very helpful in this respect. If not for Tumblr, I wouldn't know nearly as much about rape culture as I do. The internet has been a great resource in this way.

This awareness appears to be intensified among college campus because this is necessary by national standards. Bringing attention to these topics keeps college campuses safe and lets students know they are protected.

But is anyone actually safe?

With Title IX in place (if you're unfamiliar with this law, here's a summary), college campuses are required to take action against reported gender-based discrimination and sexual assault.

Presumably, most colleges require their students to complete the "Think About It" online activity before beginning freshman year, which addresses the risks and dangers surrounding alcohol and sex in a school setting.

Now ideally, policies and programs like these that focus on sexual assault and misconduct would erase the problem completely. Or if not completely, for the most part.

Yet we do not live in an idealistic world, and reality is, not surprisingly, much harder to swallow...

This last year I found out my friend at WSU had been raped.

I honestly didn't know what to feel when I heard this. It was a flurry of emotions, but I just couldn't believe it.

I don't mean this in a dramatic way - I literally could not comprehend what had happened.

I understood that rape isn't a rare thing, but I couldn't handle that it happened to a person so dear to me. I couldn't handle that someone had permanently damaged her, and I struggled with how I could help or what I could do to change what happened. I kept asking myself: Why?

Although I was passionate about these topics beforehand, this set me on fire.

I wanted to scream in her perpetrator's face. I wanted to shake them and ask them if they had any idea how much they had hurt my friend. I wanted to make them feel as small as they had made her feel.

However, I came to terms with the fact that I could change nothing about what happened. Rather than being angry about it (I do still hold on to some of these feelings, as I have found them impossible to let go entirely), I needed to channel that emotion into something that could activate change.

Just this past weekend, an incident occurred at Reed College in Portland, Oregon in which a (drunk) Lewis & Clark student assaulted multiple female students from Reed. To say that I am disappointed and disgusted with the morality of people is an understatement.

I appreciate many things about my school. One of the things I appreciate most is the willingness to have more conversations and awareness than generally anticipated for the topics of sexual assault and misconduct.

As part of this, I was given the opportunity to teach about sexual misconduct and consent at PSI sessions this year (PSI is a non-credit required course for first years or transfers). Therefore, I have experienced the kind of conversations surrounding this topic first-hand.

While some people don't seem as interested in it as others, the sessions allow for both instruction and dialogue on these topics. These sessions give me hope that everyone in our school can be informed enough to know what to do in these situations, as a bystander or a victim, and to know how inherently important consent is. The goal of these sessions is to create a secure and welcoming environment for all students.

Then something like what happened this past weekend occurs, and I began to feel as though all hope is lost.

Incidents such as these prove that sexual assault and misconduct is widespread. It is happening at universities and private colleges all over the country. These are not isolated incidents.

Just because my school is deemed to be more "progressive" means absolutely nothing.

The current conversations we are having surrounding sexual assault and misconduct are not enough. And it frightens me to think about schools that aren't even having these dialogues. What are we to do about this?

I can't say I have an answer to this question.

But I do know there's always room for further discussions about sexual assault and misconduct. Creating more safe spaces to talk about these topics for either enlightenment or reinforcement are vital if we want to see any kind of change take place.

I don't care if you've heard it before. You'll hear it again, because there are still people who need to hear it.

There are so many misconceptions encircling these topics. The fact that we may never rid our society of all of them isn't an excuse not to try.

Sexual assault and misconduct in any form is never justified, under any circumstances or with any persons.

My heart is breaking, but I am not backing down.

We can win. We can combat this. But it's up to us.