not feeling safe on campus

College Life
1

<p>so here’s the deal, I am a recently turned 20 year old junior at my university. I am nearing the end of my first quarter here. I am a female to male transsexual, 5 months on testosterone and post chest surgery.
I have fallen in love with the people at the school and the campus, struggled a little bit in one of my classes but managed to do better and now have b’s and a’s in my classes and had been feeling like I have found my place at this school, I am only out as trans to my lgbt studies class and a few good friends who i totally trust.</p>

<p>A couple weeks ago in the middle of the day I was standing outside my apartment, waiting for a friend to pick me up and someone drove by and yelled “queer!” I was a little confused if they were talking to me or not because there were a couple other people on the sidewalk as well. But I was excited for my big weekend plans so didn’t worry about it. </p>

<p>Anyways, fast forward to a couple days ago, close to 1pm I was walking in the same spot and someone drove by and yelled at me, i had my headphones in so couldn’t make out what he said but the tone was aggressive, his window was rolled down and he was looking right at me, we briefly made eye contact.
I was the only person on the sidewalk and didn’t recognize him at all, I flipped him off but think he was too far down the road for him to see.</p>

<p>Ok so it ****ed me off but I thought maybe he had mistaken me for someone else since I had no idea who this guy was and I had to walk to my class. I went to class and forgot about it until around 3:30pm when I was on the sidewalk biking towards the library to study, I was only a couple minutes down the street from my apartment, I live on south campus right next to the school. I was going slowly to avoid hitting students who were getting off the buses and as I was approaching the crosswalk I heard someone yelling very loudly, it kinda shocked me because of how loud it was so I looked up and its the SAME GUY looking at me and yelling, but again couldn’t make it out because of my headphones.
I was kinda shocked once I realized it was the same guy and that it was me he was yelling at, I sorta tried to follow him but I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up with a car on my bike so quickly gave up.</p>

<p>I got so upset I called a couple of my close friends from back home and my mom to talk to about it.They both said to go to campus security. So I did and talked to a very nice police officer at the campus services building. He said that a witness saw the guy yelling at me when I had been on my bike and had called to report it. He said if it happens again to call campus security or even 911 if they are threatening me. </p>

<p>So i’m really upset about this and feeling really unsafe on campus now. i’m very confused as if this guy knows im a transsexual or not, I don’t know how he could know but maybe the person who had been driving the car knew me since the guy yelling was in the passenger seat.</p>

<p>Idk I just want advice from parents or students who may have faced similar issues. Thanks for reading sorry it was wordy wanted to be thorough</p>

2

<p>If he is in a car, read the license plate of the car next time. Include that information the next time you talk to the police.</p>

3

<p>Carry a pocket knife or pepper spray with you when you walk around, just in case. </p>

<p>People like that are freaks so don’t do anything to provoke it. Like the person above said, try to find a way to id him, license plate or something and call the security next time it happens. Stay close to your friends at night time.</p>

4

<p>DO NOT carry a pocket knife. Unless both of these conditions are met:

  1. Your university permits carry of a common pocket knife
  2. You are proficient in use of a pocket knife </p>

<p>Otherwise, someone can knife dodge you and perform a knife takedown on you after 3 or 4 swipes, instantly knocking you unconscious. There are a variety of other gadgets to aid in self defense that most universities allow, including pepper spray as mentioned. </p>

<p>Some pepper sprays are better than others, I have one that shoots a stream of hot pepper spray 25 feet with a sight to make my aim more accurate. There are some pens made of anodized aircraft aluminum that can fracture bones. But any stainless steel pen can aid in self defense. </p>

<p>You can engage in psychological warfare, such as wearing mirrored sunglasses when outside to conceal which direction you are looking at and help mask your expression. </p>

<p>At night, you can get infrared cameras to track heat signatures and scope out dark areas for people before going forward.</p>

<p>There are pens, watches, glasses, and a variety of other objects that can covertly record video and audio. </p>

<p>There are 150 decibel alarms you could also use that emit a pulse that jams any transmitting tracking or bugging devices in your proximity. Silent mode included. </p>

<p>If you get some background info on the perp, there are former law enforcement and military veterans working as private eyes in the area that can make the perp shut up if you pay for their services.</p>

5

<p>In all seriousness it’s probably a bad idea to carry a knife but I think pepper spray is good in all states, its cheap, fits on a keychain and you can get it at sporting goods stores. Hopefully you’ll never have a use for it other than to make you feel more safe (that’s all mine has been needed for so far but it really does make me feel better) some have tops that make sure you can’t spray yourself and I think there’s some with some type of dye in them so they can identify the attacker better which may be good if its a real thing. Definitely stay in groups when it’s dark out and don’t go places where there aren’t people going by like every five minutes. If you see this guy again try to take a picture of the license plate or see if he has anything that will really identify him like a scar or tattoo or if anyone you’re with knows who he his and tell campus security. Maybe you could go to counseling at your school and tell them your fears and they’d have ideas on how to keep yourself safe? My school also has counselors specifically for things like rape and domestic violence and this isn’t either of those but they also help when people are being stalked so if you have something like this at your school definitely go see them. I hope everything goes well and you get to feel safe again! Good luck!</p>