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" Hey Guys! It&amp;#039;s April, as if you didn&amp;#039;t know already! For college students in particular, this means that flowers are in full bloom (pretty sweet picture I took, huh?!), people are sunbathing in the quad, and frequent trips to the local frozen yogurt place are an absolute must. One thing I bet you didn&amp;#039;t know about April though is the fact that it&amp;#039;s Sexual Assault Awareness Month. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we&amp;#039;re all pretty familiar with the various consequences of sexual assault. It&amp;#039;s a subject that is constantly in the news and that makes its way into long, emotional mother-daughter conversations that always seem to occur over frozen yogurt (I don&amp;#039;t have an addiction to frozen yogurt, do I?!). In all seriousness though, there is a reason, as a female college student in particular, to be aware of this problem. Did you know that one in four women, upon graduating from college, will have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lives? One in four. That could easily be a sorority sister, a girl who sits next to you in class, a girl on your hall, or even you. This is a particular issue for young women in college for many reasons. College campuses are generally very open environments in which sexual assault can easily occur. Additionally, parties, particularly where alcohol is offered, can present their fair share of problems. Now, by no means do we need to live in a constant state of fear that we&amp;#039;re going to be harmed, but by becoming more aware, our simple day-to-day actions can help put a stop to sexual assault. Here are some of my tips: 1. Come up with a plan: Absolutely always. You need to establish a plan with all the girls in your crew when you go out at night. No woman ever leaves a party or stays at a party by herself. The same goes for when you go places by yourself at night. Whether you&amp;#039;re just going to run a few miles around the track or you&amp;#039;re heading to the library, have your friends text you at a certain time and give them a definitive time when you will be arriving back to your room.  2. Don&amp;#039;t just stand there: If you&amp;#039;re at a party, and you notice a girl who is alone and is clearly intoxicated, you need to make sure she gets back to her room safely. Do not merely ignore the situation as someone could very easily take advantage of her. Many schools like UNC have programs such as One Act, in which you can get trained to help in situations like these. I&amp;#039;m already making plans to get trained next semester. 3. Take self-defense classes: This is pretty self-explanatory. Most universities offer classes, many of which are free, so there is really no reason not to. No such program at your school? Speak up and request funding! 4. Take a Women&amp;#039;s Studies Class: After taking my first women&amp;#039;s studies class, I honestly can&amp;#039;t see why you wouldn&amp;#039;t take this class. It&amp;#039;s opened my eyes up to so many problems that women encounter on a daily basis. It has really inspired me to change things, and it actually served as the inspiration behind this blog post. 5. Speak Up: Sexual assault has been too much of a taboo in society for too long. Inform your friends, your family, and university officials of its dangers. By just speaking up, we can help put a stop to it. If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, go to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center&amp;#039;s website for more information. You are never, ever alone. &amp;quot;Do not go gentle into that good night \u2013 Rage, rage against the dying of the light.&amp;quot; -Dylan Thomas No worry beef curry, XOs, and all that other jazz, Katie :) What other steps do you think we can take to stop sexual assault in its tracks? Let me know by leaving a comment below!  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/life/school/advice/a13898/sexual-assault-awareness-month/>