I am a 22 year old senior communication major at Kennesaw State University. At the age of 12 I was raped. I kept my attack a secret from all those around me while letting my own emotions eat away at the person I was. I found myself falling into dangerous paths and making poor decisions as the love I once had for myself, no longer existed. At the age of 13, I was diagnosed with eating disorders. My body chose food as a way to cope and it soon became my version of self harm. I wanted to become invisible. I wanted to be seen as undesirable in the eyes of society at the time. At the age of 16, information of my traumatic experience was accidentally revealed to my parents. I was not prepared for the love and understanding reactions they had. When you are 12 years old, you do not understand the true meaning of Rape. You may understand it is something in movies but surely it does not exist in real life. Shortly after my parents finding out about my past, I was diagnosed with PTSD. My neglect toward towards myself by keeping my experience to myself cause flashbacks and recurring trauma. After this diagnosis, I began seeing therapist and doctors regularly to help ease the struggles of PTSD. Fast forward to 18 years old. I gained the confidence in myself and my surroundings to go off to college. What is supposed to be the most exciting years of your life, became what I feared most. My freshman year I was raped for the second time. This time I was going to handle my trauma the "right" way. I immediately told a close friend and together we went to Campus Police. I was not prepared for the reaction of being told "It is your word against his, go home and get over it." I transferred schools shortly after that as I no longer felt safe in a community that does nothing to help victims. I believe everything happens for a reason. I have been through many traumatic experiences with combined thoughts of suicide and never given up. My goal is to share my story, to educate people that these things can happen, to show people they are not alone. I attend schools, churches, organizations, etc. with my PTSD service dog to educate and inform. I look forward to sharing my story with you.
