Happy Wednesday, collegiettes!
Before we dive into this week’s WW, can we just take a moment to acknowledge that the semester has already come to the halfway point! Just a few more weeks until the sweet release of winter break!
Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk books.
A lot of students going through college can barely get through the required reading or their classes, never mind picking up a book that has nothing to do with their studies. Still, I think that it is important to make time for things during the semester that take the edge off— for me, that means having a good read in my hands that can (momentarily) take me away from the laundry list of things to do and assignments that I have to turn in. Now, this doesn’t mean that I’m completely throwing my schoolwork to the side to find out who dies at the end of the latest Stephen King novel. It does mean, though, that when I can avoid to take some time off between writing for class, writing for work or writing for HC, I will most likely find something to read.
Lately, I have been completely captured by “Girl in the Woods” by Aspen Matis.
On her second night of college, Matis was raped in her dorm room. As a result, she felt lost and pretty much abandoned by the people who were closest to her. Without much to lose, Matis takes to the woods on a 2,650 mile journey from Mexico to Canada, in which she is able to finally come back to herself, and reclaim the body that she hadn’t felt connected to in a long time.
Campus assault is a pair of words that we have all seen too many times in headlines, and it is no different in this story. As a survivor of what had happened to her, Matis is able to tell a heart-wrenching story of how she was able to overcome her rape not only in order to move forward with her life, but in order to take back control over her life.
This is a story of triumph, failures, danger and salvation. Based on the real life events that have happened to Matis, she writes a story that you absolutely cannot put down. (But, you kind of have to on account of that paper that’s due tomorrow that you haven’t started.)
Nevertheless, I am totally grateful to Aspen Matis for finding herself and her strengths, and being able o share her story with us.