A few weeks ago, an 18-year-old girl went missing from Alley Cat, a popular bar in Oswego, at around 1 a.m. Friends were trying to reach her on the phone. Family members were announcing her disappearance on social media and to the authorities.
Although the girl was found unharmed and OK the next day, not all situations of a disappearance end up with a happy ending. A little over year ago, University of Virginia student Hannah Graham disappeared after a night out. After weeks of investigation, her remains were found in a rural area of Virginia. In February, Jesse Matthew Jr. was charged with Graham's murder and abduction.
It's a scary thing to think about. One minute, you're enjoying a night out with friends at the bars. The next minute, you either find yourself lost or either mugged or abducted by a total stranger. I might not be much of a person who goes out to the bars and drinks every Friday night, but even if you don't go out to the bars or don't drink, you can still be in danger. In fact, even on campus you are putting yourself in danger.
On one of my first months on campus, a few girls and I were walking back from Lakeside, when this guy popped out of nowhere. He was clearly under the influence and kept flirting and touching one of the girls near me. I held on to my purse tight, scared that he would try and take my purse. These two girls then came out and asked us if we knew the guy. One of the girls then confronted the guy and said, "OK. We're taking you back to Waterbury." Immediately, the other girls and I made a run for it back to our respective dorms. When I got back to my dorm room, I immediately called my dad, crying my eyes out. I was scared. I had never been more scared in my life than that evening.
Now, I know a lot of people are going to say "Oh. That's never going to happen to me." Eventually, something like my experience will happen to you, whether it's on campus or at a bar. I'm not trying to scare you and say you should shut yourself from the rest of the world every night and never come out from your dorm room ever again. College is supposed to be a great experience and one of the highlights of the experience is going out on the town and drinking your cares away (responsibly). But, regardless of whether you are a drinker or not, eventually you will encounter someone who is going to cross your boundary. Someone will try and fight you, mug you, abduct you, or worse.
Here are just a couple of tips and tricks to keep in mind when you're going out.
Install the Guardian app on your smartphone.
It's one of the best things to keep with you when you're walking from place to place at night. This app lets you time out the distance of your travel. For example, you set your time to go from The Shed to Seneca Hall to 40 minutes. At five minutes and once your time is up, your phone will ask you if you have reached your destination or not. You then click "Okay" if you have reached your destination or "No" if you haven't. If you don't give a reply within a certain amount of time, University Police will try and locate where you are in order to make sure you're safe.
Speaking of UP, University Police are here to help and protect you.
You shouldn't be mocking or chastising campus police just because they put a ticket on your car when you parked in the wrong lot. Without them, our campus would be a much more dangerous place. Use UP to your advantage if you feel unsafe at any time. If it's an extreme emergency and you're away from campus, don't be afraid to call 911.
DO NOT GO OUT ALONE AT NIGHT!
It only increases the chance of a stranger doing something to you. Go with a group of friends or with people that you trust.
Take a self-defense class.
One of my best friends took a self-defense class on campus last semester. If you get the opportunity to take a self-defense class, whether it's on campus or back home, do so. It will totally be beneficial, especially if someone tries to approach you. If you don't take a self-defense class, you can always just try to knee that person in the balls if that person's a guy.
If someone offers you a suspicious-looking drink, don't take it.
Yes, I know it sounds like I'm a DARE counselor telling you this, but you never know if someone is going to put roofies in your drink. Not only will you have an awful hangover the next morning, but you will also be more prone to someone taking advantage of you, especially when it comes to consent for sex.
Keep these little things in mind when you're going out to your next party or next Mug Night. Not only will these make you smarter and safer, but they'll also make the campus and the campus town around you a much safer place to be.
