My Moment of ACTION

Last semester my roomate was totally in love with her new boyfriend. They were constantly texting, chatting and going out. They usually hung out at his place but one day they were hanging out in our room and I noticed that he was very physically aggressive with her and made alot of "teasing" negative comments about her. At one point she told her boyfriend she was going to go talk to a friend across the hall. He got angry that she was leaving him in the room alone and they got into a fight right there in front of me. He actually went and stood in the doorway and refuse to let her leave. When she tried to go he shoved her onto the bed. It wasn't a "teasing" thing anymore. It didn't feel right to me so I decided to do something. I asked her boyfriend to let me out of the room and he slid out of the way. At the last minute I grabbed my roommate's hand and took her out the door with me. Her boyfriend didn't want to get physical with me so he let us go. I took her down to the RA's room and told her that she shouldn't accept being treated like that. The RA talked to us and we had a very good conversation. My roommate left with some good tactics to avoid and get out of bad situations. Eventually my roommate and her boyfriend went to counseling and things really did get better. I am happy that I got the ball rolling towards them having a healthier relationship.

Angela Parker
2nd yr. Government