{"id":5264,"date":"2022-01-03T11:45:44","date_gmt":"2022-01-03T16:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/imprint\/?p=5264"},"modified":"2022-01-11T15:19:11","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T20:19:11","slug":"a-different-conversation-experiences-of-a-female-college-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/imprint\/a-different-conversation-experiences-of-a-female-college-student\/","title":{"rendered":"A Different Conversation: Experiences of a Female College Student"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Leia Silva<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Documentary <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s dark inside my four-bedroom apartment in Orlando, Florida. The year is 2018, it\u2019s my freshman year of college. The brown leather on the couch is peeling, dirty dishes soak in the sink, and a candle labeled \u201cAutumn Leaves\u201d flickers on the dining table. I am curled up in a large plush blanket, sitting close to my roommate, Aria. Our eyes are glued to the T.V. as a Netflix Documentary plays titled, Conversations with A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes<\/em>. The audio from the television fills the room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the early morning hours, through a backdoor, <\/em>the intruder<\/em> came in…\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt all began about 2:30 A.M.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrightened coeds at Florida State University in Tallahassee walked to class in groups today…\u201d <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe brutalized them. Two to their death and three to his certainty that he had killed them.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s scared all the time. Even just walking to classes. And today we\u2019ve been keeping our doors locked, during the day too, which we don\u2019t usually do.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An eerie chill begins to creep slowly down my spine. \u201cStop fidgeting,\u201d says Aria. I didn\u2019t even realize that my leg had begun to nervously bounce up and down the side of the sofa. \u201cSorry,\u201d I say, \u201cI just don\u2019t understand how someone could do something like that. They were our age Aria… our age. They were twenty, twenty-one years old. That could have been us at FSU.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had been accepted at FSU; Aria had been too. We almost moved to Tallahassee. Instead, we decided to move to Orlando and pursue our degrees at UCF. \u201cI know,\u201d Aria replied. She let out a heavy sigh, and we both sat in silence for a moment. \u201cIt\u2019s just more of a reminder for us that we need to lock our doors.\u201d I sat up looking at her now. \u201cOur bedroom doors too, Leia,\u201d she emphasized. I nodded my head and turned off the T.V., and we both watched as the screen went black. \u201cI didn\u2019t even realize it was still playing,\u201d she said. I could tell she was worried, and her mind was elsewhere because honestly, mine was too. \u201cLet\u2019s just go to bed,\u201d I replied. The old couch creaked as we stood up, but our footsteps hardly made a noise as we walked to our rooms. I walked inside and listened carefully as the lock clicked on Aria\u2019s door. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Talk<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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