In June, my family hosted a party to celebrate a birthday. It was at my cousin’s house, the house I would soon be prohibited to go to. As I arrived at the party my mom told me to say hi to everyone as I always do. I headed inside the house and said hi to my cousins and my aunts and then headed to the backyard. As I got the backyard it was dark and there weren’t a lot of people. I said hi to my uncles and when I approached my cousin’s husband, Angel, I found myself in an unusual situation. Usually, I say hi to him and we don’t hug or shake hands, it is typically just a simple acknowledgment, but this time he gave me a hug and slightly pecked my chest. It was weird, but I didn’t make much of it because it might’ve been an accident. At the moment, I was really uncomfortable and left to say hi to my uncles. 

Angel told me to come sit with him to talk and did because I was trying to be polite. I didn’t expect him to ask me anything inappropriate but he did. He asked me, ¨Como te sientes? Te sientes sexy?¨ I could feel my heart beating and my hands started to shake. I was so uncomfortable and felt so scared. After he asked those disgusting questions he moved on and started talking about how he was building something for their porch. I tried to forget the questions and make excuses for his actions.  As he was talking, he told me to go with him because he was going to show me the building process. I was hesitant, but I knew I couldn’t be rude and say no, so I went.  

As he led me to the porch where it was dark, not a person in sight. I started to get really scared. I tried to convince myself that I was going to be okay. I kept walking behind him and then my cousin came to the porch and called for him, but he hid behind his car. My heart started beating so fast and I started to question what his intentions were with me. Once my cousin left he stopped hiding and told me to come closer; I said no I’m fine. He kept insisting and I kept resisting until he got fed up and he came closer to me grabbing my waist. My immediate reaction was to push him away so I did. He stopped and walked away. I was so scared and shocked that this just happened to me. I didn’t want to believe what had just happened but it did. I headed inside the house but it felt like an eternity walking back. My head couldn’t process what just happened it all just felt like a bad nightmare. How could someone I’ve known my entire life violate me like that? Why did I let it happen? I kept thinking about everything and blamed myself for his actions. Upon reflection, nothing excuses his actions. This is not my fault.

  This summer was a summer I’m definitely never going to forget. I have been going through so much mentally these past couple of months and I have matured so much. I was sexually harassed by my cousin’s husband this summer. I never thought he was capable of doing such a thing until it happened.

Authors writing process reflection

The theme for my piece is that no matter what hard experience you go through you learn about yourself and you can mature from it. I want people to understand how someone who is sexually harassed feels, even if it didn’t go to a great extent it’s still a violation of their personal space. I don’t want pity, I just want my reader to understand that any harassment is not okay no matter who it comes from. 

Brainstorming process: 

During my brainstorming process, I was going to write about my year and how it has been the year I’ve matured the most. Then I wanted to write about my ex-boyfriend because he’s taught me to love myself and has greatly impacted how I think. I wanted to write something more personal, something that has definitely impacted me this year and has taught me a valuable lesson. 

Drafting:

As I was writing my essay, I wasn’t sure how I was gonna start. I didn’t want to come off strong or that this was a depressing story. I wanted to tell my story and be able to use some imagery and show not tell, even though I know I could do better in those I think I did my best. 

The feedback from my peer and Mrs.Knox helped to expand my story a lot. It made it come to life more. 

Challenges: 

One of the main challenges while writing my story was to not make it too emotional or depressing. I didn’t write my story for pity so I didn’t want it to be that way. At the end of the day, I think my story isn’t so depressing and it came out the way I wanted it to. 

Strengths: 

I think my story explains my personal experience very well and not too dramatic but definitely in a way where you can see how it impacted me. I didn’t go into much detail the way I wanted to do. 

Final draft:

I really loved the way my story came out. It’s not my proudest piece but I’m definitely not ashamed of it.