After hearing about an instance that occurred on my college campus, I ordered a pepper spray key-chain off of Amazon.

My roommate has had pepper spray on her key ring since she first got a car. Honestly, I didn't think it was necessary; I grew up in a nice area and have never really been distrustful of my surroundings.

Coming to college, I was definitely advised to always travel in groups at night, never to take a drink unless I poured it myself, to be aware of my surroundings, and the list goes on.

Almost every night that I go study at the library (Thomas Cooper has become a second home at this point) my friends and I finish our work at different times, and leave accordingly. The walk from the library to my dorm is extremely short, maybe a four-minute walk, and so I often walk back alone.

Between the news and just everyday conversations, I have always been aware that bad things happen and that young women/girls are extremely vulnerable to assaults. Fortunately, myself nor any of my friends have experienced an assault like this; however, hearing about it happening to someone my own age and on my own campus made it all too real.

A few days ago, I was walking back from the library alone, though this time with my keys in my hand, and with special attention to who was around me. I saw a man a little ways back and hurried up my pace to make it back to my dorm. The entire walk back my heart was racing; though, as it turns out, he was just a student walking back to a different dorm.

I now act more on guard when traveling alone, especially at night, which is something I should have been doing all along, it just took an instance to occur for me to actually realize that it can happen to anyone.

Within the last year or so especially, assault on women has been a hot topic, mainly within the workplace.

While I felt passionately that these women deserve justice for what they experienced, it seemed like a cause I was supporting from afar. My only connection was that I am a female who believes if a woman has the courage enough to come forward and speak on her experience, that should be believed and supported unless proven otherwise.

I still believe that to the fullest extent, however, now with more conviction.

It's extremely disheartening that we (women/girls) have to be taught not to walk alone or with headphones in at night, to not walk with a ponytail if walking alone, to be cautious of what we drink, and so on.

It's an unfortunate reality that I have to accept and act on for my own safety.