Hi Readers!

My name is TheGraduate — well that's my screen name for We Are HER, anyway. But I'm really excited to share my story, not because it's a fun one to tell or anything, but because I don't think my story is unique. I think women and young girls can read my story and silently nod their head in agreement as they recall a time a man pushed himself onto her or decided he wasn't going to ask for consent before starting something. I used to be really upset by my story. I held it in for years until I had a friend tell me she was raped. Then, all of a sudden, the gears in my brain started moving and I realized that what happened to her was exactly what happened to me.I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. I was told my first post should be an introduction about me this way you can get a sense of who I am. Well, as I'm sure you've figured out, I am writing for HER because I was raped. And I hate saying it so casually like that, but I guess there's no sense dancing around the subject.So as of today, I'm HER's youngest writer! I'm not exactly sure if that means anything, but I like to brag! (insert winky face here). So that being said, I'm a recent graduate — high school graduate, that is. High school was pretty alright for me. I had a decent friend group, but I didn't have much of a social life. My mom left my family when my brother and I were really young and that meant my dad was always working to support the three of us. As soon as I turned 16, I got a job of my own and when I wasn't selling retail after school, I was involved in cheerleading or babysitting my little brother. That means I didn't really get out much. I hung out with friends during school and that was it. No parties or movie nights for me. But I didn't mind, honestly, I didn't.

I held it in for years until I had a friend tell me she was raped. Then, all of a sudden, the gears in my brain started moving and I realized that what happened to her was exactly what happened to me.

My dad also didn't want me dating. The rule was always "no dating until you're 30!" but I think when my dad realized I was turning into a young adult, he was alright with me dating at 16. Plus a guy in the grade above me was definitely crushing on me. You know how this goes — cheerleader and cute football player fall in love. <3 I couldn't sound anymore cliche. *cue the eyerolls*Well, Trevor was pretty cute and he was older too! I couldn't help but blush anytime he struck up a conversation with me. I was love-struck, but the best news of all: he asked me to be his homecoming date.My dad was great about it. We drove to a mall in a big city to pick out a dress. Our fashion sense kind of aligned. I could tell he was happy for me, in that "she's gotta grow up sometime" kind of way. As I tried on a teal dress with a sweetheart neckline, I could see my dad's eyes light up. It was my own "Say Yes to the Dress" moment. My brother just stuck out his tongue (we literally had to drag him with us). This was my dress. I was all ready for a perfect night with Trevor. My heart skipped a beat.But here's where I leave you (for now), readers. I've still got like three or four more posts to get my story out, so I don't want to give away all the juicy details now.Until next week,TheGraduate <3