Wet Floor Sign

I’ve been in college for two years now, and trust me about the following:

Learn how to be confident in yourself; being smart is cool now. Thursday’s are for going out. Don’t take 8 am’s. Keep microwaveable Annie’s mac and cheese in your pantry at all times. It's okay to be undecided; no one knows what they want to do anyway. Your first college friend group never sticks. Learn to like coffee. Don’t skip classes. Be open to making new friends.

I’ve been in college for two years now, girls, I beg you to trust me about the following:

Don’t put down your drink. Don’t Uber alone. Don’t leave your friend alone at a bar or party. Learn how to make the “save me” eyes; sometimes we can’t use our words to ask our friend for help. Never walk alone at night. Matter of fact, never walk alone. Daytime isn’t much safer. You might feel confident in your outfit, but be aware, because some guy around the corner might take a picture down your shirt and Snapchat it to all his friends. Be aware because some men will think a cute top is the equivalent of a green light. You will hear awful misogynistic comments that make you feel like an object. Even your own university will make you feel less significant than a wet floor sign.

Freshman year, my two friends jokingly took a wet floor sign they found on the floor of the bathroom and put it in their bedroom. When an RA brought this to the attention of the school, my friends consequently had to pay a hundred dollar fine, meet with the dean, and were put on disciplinary watch for stealing university property. Admittedly, they should have never taken a sign, but nonetheless, it was a harmless prank that which they paid the consequence for.

The same year, girls shared their stories with each other about how they found themselves to be victims of sexual assault. As if one instance wasn’t enough, I realized that this wasn’t a rare occurrence. As if that was not enough, all these girls were victims of assault due to the same person. When some of the brave souls brought it to the attention of the school, the boy was not fined, the meeting with the dean was in order to claim defamation, and he was ultimately not disciplined for stealing – even though what he stole was much more precious than a yellow sign. Everyone could see that the boy in question was at serious fault, but nonetheless, he was let off the hook and paid no consequence.

It’s sophomore year and I still see the same boy all over campus. His record is clean because it’s “he said vs she said”, even if “she” is the collective voice of dozens of different girls begging for their shared rapist to be kicked off of campus. The fact is, yes, college is a place of hookup culture where a regretted act could result in the false accusation. However, the FBI determined that of all accusations proven to be false are roughly 8%. This means that 92% of victims who make this claim are telling the truth, even when the accusations get swept under the rug because daddy's chunk of change was large enough to make it disappear.

I have to say, I’m disappointed in a university that claims to preach safety, but dismisses those who speak up. I am even more disappointed to be a part of a society that values a wet floor sign at $100, and the female human body at $0.