Stop, Take Action & Protect Yourself from Danger By Vasthiestefany Flores Senior Staff Writer
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on’t be a victim by giving crime a chance to happen.
HCC is well-protected, and occurrences of wrongdoing and crime are basically non-existent. Be that as it may, things do happen and regardless of how rare or how minor a crime might be, the point at which you are the person in question, it is serious, baffling, and disturbing. The individuals from the HCC security team each day attempt to ensure you and your property are safe. While on the lookout, officials such as the police department, often remind students and staff to watch their resources. The key is mindfulness. By not putting yourself, or your property, in a weak circumstance, you can prevent becoming the victim of a crime. Police Master Sergeant/Director of Security at HCC, Christopher Gough shared various steps to tell and show students the importance of practical safety that can save a life. “It is important for students to defend themselves and to know how to approach different harmful circumstances, from calling 9-1-1 and preparing for unexpected moments,” he said. He wants students to know that they can be safe but that they need to be prepared, no matter what.
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remembered that I shouted No! To them. They suddenly left, but it made me feel that there are so many other students who go through the same struggle. How many of them are prepared? I then saw a police officer and told him what had happened. After that incident I better prepared myself and actually took a few safety lessons. I was walking by myself that day and wasn’t carrying any type of self defense weapon. I learned the importance of always carrying a self-defense tool, such as pepper spray. Just a simple too can help you escape for a few seconds and get help. Medical assisting student Noemi Ocegueda shared her own frightening experience. “I was with a group of my other peers, when suddenly a man approached us with a gun wanting to take our phones!” she said. “It was frightening, we didn’t know what to do. He was on the run, but then a group of police officers ran and took him away. They made sure we were okay, but it was a very close call. It was so unexpected and we were unprepared. After that experience I made sure to learn about the dangers and advise others to do so too! Now I always carry pepper spray and have looked very closely at taking precautions wherever you but especially in our surroundings on and near campus. I know what to do,” she said.
College grounds can provide you with a feeling that everything is good and a sense of security, an inclination that everybody knows one another and looks out for each other. However, there are perpetrators who exploit this sense of security and take advantage to commit acts of different kinds, even sexual violence.
Students can take steps to increase safety on college campuses. As bystanders, students can learn ways of stepping in to prevent crimes like sexual assault or robbery from occurring. When it comes to personal safety, there are steps you can take as well. No tips can absolutely guarantee safety—violence can happen to anyone, and it’s not the only crime that can occur on a college campus.
Just walking off campus in mid daylight, I experienced a scary moment. Two older men in a car wouldn’t stop following me, shouting out and harassing me to get in the car. I simply listened to my music and tried to ignore them, however that wasn’t enough. I was scared because they didn’t care, they kept telling me, “You’re off track sweetie! Get in the car!” It’s at these moments that I wished I knew what to do. I
Journalism and Taekwondo second degree black belt student Gabriella Castorina has dealt with the dangers and has recommended Taekwondo to students to prepare and to tackle these situations with defense mechanisms and training. “Martial arts have ways of defending yourself. For instance, if you were ever in a brutal situation, you would want to find the pressure points of the person who is physically attacking
HORIZONS Spring 2022
