Light Up The Knight- Campus Engagement

I attended Light Up The Knight for one of my campus engagements. This event was appropriately held on October 1^st, the first day of Domestic Violence Awareness month. The seminar was to recognize and honor victims of domestic, dating and sexual abuse. There were many speakers including a UCF student who told her story about her abusive relationship, and it’s long-term effects on her. Her relationship was anything but healthy; she was not able to spend time with anybody but her boyfriend, and he kept track of her every move. The relationship ended when her boyfriend raped her, and then her whole world came spiraling down. She went into a deep state of depression and was suicidal for three years following the relationship. While her story is extremely sad, she was able to get her life back on track and is much stronger than she used to be. She is an inspiration to us all.

Two girls spoke of a former UCF student, Danielle, who was killed by her boyfriend this past year. They spoke highly of Danielle and described her as an adventurous, fun-loving girl who had everything going for her. All of that changed when she met her boyfriend. He controlled her entire life, even though they were in a long distance relationship. She became estranged from her friends and family and eventually moved to New York to be with her boyfriend. Soon she went into hiding from her boyfriend, and unfortunately lost her life to him.

This was a very emotional event. The idea of being in an abusive relationship is unfathomable. I wasn’t aware how common domestic violence is, until the deputy mentioned a few incidents that happened in the past week alone. I think that people are afraid to report domestic violence for many reasons. The victim doesn’t want to betray they’re partner, or get them in trouble, or they really do believe that the last time will be the last time. Whatever the reason is, victims should not be afraid to seek out help, and find a way out of the situation.

Throughout the event, I couldn’t help but think about one of my best friends. At the beginning of this year, one of her friends from back home was almost killed by her ex-boyfriend. He stabbed her in the neck and head 17 times, but she survived. There were two people walking down the sidewalk and when they saw what was happening, they intervened and saved the girl’s life. If there were more people in the world like the two people who saved her life, the world would be a much better place. There are so many people who ignore violent situations because they do not want to get involved. Something as simple as educating people on violence prevention can be the difference between life and death, so why aren’t we doing more to prevent domestic violence?

Here I am at Light Up The Knight!