Since our middle school years, we’ve been told about the dangers of having unsafe sex. There were warnings against unplanned pregnancies and diseases, and the most unfortunate of us were shown really disgusting pictures of STIs gone very, very wrong.. Now we’re not in middle school anymore, but the threats of unprotected sex are that much more real in a college environment, especially if we’re sexually active. But don’t fear collegiettes! MSU has tons of resources available for students to help promote safe sex, and they’re located right here on campus.
According to Olin Health Center’s “True Life: I’m A Spartan brochure”, 83 percent of MSU students used some form of contraception the last time they had intercourse. This number proves a majority of sexually active MSU students know that safe sex is crucial, but knowing how MSU can help is just as important.
Michigan State’s Olin Health Center’s many resources are a good first stop on your road to safe sex. The services they offer are many and varied, and they offer something for every aspect of sexual health.
A big goal of Olin is to educate students on different aspects of sexual health. There are educational programs on basically everything, from anatomy and physiology, sexual rights and responsibilities, problems with performance/satisfaction, and methods of contraception. And the best part is that all of these educational programs are free!
Erica Phillipich, from the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Olin said that these programs are comprehensive, meaning they include information on anything, such as abstinence, pregnancy prevention, safer sex practices and STI prevention.
“They are offered in a variety of formats: hall presentations, classroom lectures, and collaborations with other student organizations,” Phillipich said.
The different aspects of sexual health are all connected, so Olin takes an approach to address them in a “holistic context.” You can’t really talk about pregnancy prevention without discussing partner communication, so Olin tries to correlate all topics as much as possible.
“They are all so interrelated and dependent,” Phillipich said. “You really cannot just talk about one topic on its own.”
If you live on campus, you are probably closer than you thought to another resource for safe sex: your resident mentor! Through something called the Condom Connection, your mentor gets a supply of condoms to give out to the students on their floor. It’s totally free, but every mentor chooses how they distribute them: some just put them in a bowl in their room for you to grab, others may want to have a safe sex discussion before handing them out. Other mentors may choose not participate in the program at all.
If you don’t live on campus, or if your mentor decided not to participate in Condom Connection, don’t stress! Olin offers free condoms, too. Just walk up to the third floor and pick one up.
Despite MSU’s support and your best efforts to participate in safe sex, mistakes do happen. If you end up in a situation where you feel as if you’ve participated in unsafe sex, MSU and Olin are still there for you!
Olin offers HIV testing, which is another free service, and it’s also anonymous. The fact that it is anonymous is something really reassuring- it means you can go get tested without ever having to use your legal name. Basically, you just get a specimen number and get results according to that. This is different than being “confidential”, which means you must use your legal name, but the clinic doesn’t release it. According to Olin’s website, it’s offered through the MSU Health Education Services.
You can also get tested for STIs at Olin (although it’s not a free service). In addition, they have a Women’s Clinic to help out with whatever you may need. You can get your annual gynecological exam there, as well as pregnancy testing. Individual counseling and referral sources are also offered, according to Olin’s website.
You can also get contraceptive counseling, so you know you are informed enough when you make your decision on how you want to best protect yourself from unwanted pregnancy. The Olin professionals can give you all sorts of info about birth control types that meet your needs. They can prescribe a contraceptive for you there as well, with many options, from the pill to the NuvaRing. Over the counter, you can get Plan B contraceptive forms, and don’t forget about those condoms!
MSU encourages safe sex with their students, and they make it super easy for students to get access to what they need to make that happen. With all this support, we have all sorts of options to be safe and responsible!