A new hope; a new college year – by blogger Snehal Gajare

My heart is pounding a thousand times, I feel as if my blood is gushing through my veins like liquid electricity. Oh Damn! I’m so confused or am I scared? Let me take a deep breath.......... Will I be accepted by my classmates? Will I be able to make new friends? Oh my God I’m going crazy with these questions popping up in my mind. The first year college students often battle these emotional questions during their transitional phase from school to college.

 Everything seems new and tempting. Freshmen are away from home for the first time and may tend to have a thrill pertaining to parties, relationships, peer pressure, covering costs, sex and social groups. The first few weeks of the college are crucial as you tend to make critical decisions that can have a major impact on your experience in the rest of your college years. Here are a few guidelines that can help you to enjoy your college experience.

1.       Academic success comes with proper planning, organizing and time management.  You should get to know your professors well so that you can clarify your doubts pertaining to your studies. Design a calendar for studies. Follow it regularly and it will work wonders.

2.       Roommates during your college can be your best friends.  Remember your roommates may have issues at an initial stage but as time passes by you tend to develop a bond of mutual respect. If a roommate is physically or verbally abusive you can always have a word with the Resident Assistant or the Dean and request for a room change.

3.       Orientation programs will have a lot of students who are like you; of the same age and equally scared. Such programs will always help you to make a lot of friends and also understanding your college campus well.

4.       There will be a lot of peer pressure pertaining to sex. All you need to know is that  it’s an individual choice and should not be an outcome of peer pressure.

5.       You should always use money wisely. You can also take up a part time job to meet your needs.

6.       Campus safety: This is perhaps the most prominent issue. The first year students are the ones who are most likely to be the victims of sexual assaults. The period from new student orientation to that of thanks- giving break is often termed as “The Red Zone” by many researchers.  This is the time when maximum sexual assaults occur and are reported.  So students have to be vigilant in parties, gatherings.  Ensure that you don’t put your drink down. Someone can spike your drink. At the same time you need to have the campus security number programmed in your cell. This is always a smart decision. Female students should always carry pepper spray in the purse.

      Every college needs to have a program to educate and create awareness about sexual assault on campuses.

Stay True to Yourself by Benedictine University blogger Karly Sacco

There are many changes that happen between senior year of high school, and going into your freshman year of college. There are more temptations that you have to control and learn from. Being a senior I know that it is extremely important your first year of college to learn right away how to be safe at school. Have common sense. If you go into your first year with your head held high, your confidence, and your guard is up then you are off to a great start. Unfortunately for girls, we cannot be too trusting of others right away. We will always have our guard up whether we want it to be there or not. We have all been hurt in the past, so that shield automatically stays up where ever we go.

However, when you’re starting off at a new school that comes in handy. I am going to sound really cliché and say this but, don’t fall into per-pressure. If you don’t want to do something, then don’t do it. It’s as simple as that! Stay true to yourself and let people like you for your true self, instead of being fake and then you might end up not having any true friends right off the bat.

Being a freshman is scary; we have all been there. Everything seems so new, big exciting, and crazy all at the same time. But as I said before you have to keep your head held high and focus on why your there in the first place which is to go to school and have an amazing time. I know when I first started college; I was not very social or involved in any groups. But as soon as I opened up and became friends with people that were interested in the same hobbies as me, it made me feel safe and wanted by students just like me. So it is okay to talk to random people, just try to have a good judge of character. If someone is being kind of weird, or you have a bad vibe, maybe you shouldn’t continue to be friends with him or her. But once you do find a good group of friends, stay with them and maintain a great relationship with those people. They will be your safety net when you need someone to talk to, if something bad happens and you’re afraid, or even if your just scared to walk across campus at night and you need a buddy.

So my main advice for incoming freshmen is to not be afraid to have your guard up. If something feels off, then don’t pursue it. Once you find yourself, find a good group of friends you feel safe and comfortable with and that make you happy. As long as you stay true to yourself you will be fine!

Power in Numbers-Talking about big things by blogger Saint Louis University Abigail

Last semester, the Greek community at my university required all members to attend a sexual assault awareness presentation. So, we all go… It’s a skit. The skit started off well, portraying interactions between two individuals and ended with a question: Is what you saw sexual assault? This is when everything went wrong. Confusion, victim shaming and little clarification made this presentation unsuccessful. I left feeling angered, but what followed was valuable. Many chapters expressed their disappointment with the presentation and every chapter had a follow-up discussion with a mediator, which was one of the most beneficial and honest conversations I have ever had. The Greek sexual assault presentation at my university, though initially ineffective, sparked a campus-wide conversation about sexual assault. Members and students alike were reminded of the significance of looking out for and supporting each other.



While Greek life and other organizations often get a bad reputation, the reality of these organizations is that they are built on community. Values including responsibility, loyalty, and trust are ones Greek chapters and other campus organizations hold dear, and ought to be what they stress in order to ensure the entire community feels safe. These organizations also have power in numbers. With that power and through these values, organizations have the opportunity to facilitate open discussions about the hard stuff, including sexual assault. Open discussions will lead to education about what sexual assault looks like, encouragement to pay closer attention to their surroundings, and ultimately, prevent more sexual assaults from occurring.

We Deserve Safety at Concerts and Festivals by blogger Ashley

With Lollapalooza at its peak, festival season is winding down for the year in most states. Thousands of people will be attending the last few major festivals before the school year gets intense and workloads grow higher. Music festivals are most common among college students and tend to be the most congested at times. Because hundreds to thousands of people are packed together at a stage, personal space is non-existent. You get used to someone bumping into you or accidentally touching/rubbing against your butt or breasts. It comes with the territory, so they say.

What you don’t get used to is someone grabbing your butt or breasts. We all know the difference between an accidental touch and an intentional grab. It makes you feel uncomfortable, disrespected, and can ruin your mood and festival experience. You’re out to have fun with friends, and someone else is out to have extra fun without your consent.

A new crop of concertgoers are rising up and speaking out against nonconsensual touching at concerts. For instance, females who crowdsurf at concerts shouldn’t have to worry about being felt up as she surfs above a sea of mostly male hands. People should stop saying, “if you don’t want to get touched inappropriately, don’t crowd surf.”

Even performers aren’t safe from perpetrators. At a June concert, female members of bands Pity Sex and Tigers Jaw were the recipients of nonconsensual kisses from a male concertgoer who jumped on stage during their performances. These bands prefer playing at shows without barricades because they feel closer to fans that way, but if people aren’t going to respect them and their bodies, then they may have to strictly play venues with barricades in the future. (I wrote a response to news of a member of another band who made a “joke” about the incident at Warped Tour and his half-apology days later.)

Everyone deserves to feel safe at concerts and festivals, rather than expect to be violated. Being drunk is not an excuse for someone to touch you without permission because many of those same people would do the same thing sober. We have to look out for each other as we are surprisingly (or maybe not so surprising) highly vulnerable in huge crowds. Have fun and don’t be afraid to call someone out for inappropriate behavior when you experience or see it.