[Applause]
hello when I was seven years old I was
in the second grade I was painfully shy
and very tall which you would not guess
but my parents are here they can attest
to that
I was very tall I was caring and
trusting and I loved to play with
Barbies and I had just met my best
friend in the entire world and one day
my school’s custodian asked me to help
him with a project I remember going into
the gym and his janitorial closet was in
there and I remember walking in and
there were shelves and shelves of tools
and a small bench in the middle of the
room and in that room when I was 7 I
stopped trusting people after my sexual
assault
I felt voiceless I felt powerless and I
felt worthless I felt for the longest
time that all I was was a sexual object
for men and I’d be lying if I said I’d
still didn’t struggle with these but a
few years ago something happened that
helped me evolve with sexual assault
being such a prevalent topic in today’s
society I thought it was important that
I share my story especially on a college
campus and my journey to finding my
voice my power and my worth again and my
journey started with a black and white
blockhead named Farris he’s cute isn’t
he yeah I rescued Ferris in the fall of
2015 when he was 10 years old I had
never had a pitbull I only had small
dogs growing up so I don’t know what
drove me to get a pitbull but I think it
was fate unfortunately after only nine
months of having him he developed a rare
form of cans
and passed away but after he died I
began researching more and more about
pit bulls and what I found was that they
are the most abused breed of dog they
are continuously mutilated manipulated
abused and neglected by human beings but
they are also the most forgiving breed
of dog and they continue to love the
very creatures that hurt them the most
and so today I’m gonna share with you
two stories two of just millions of
stories of pit bulls who have been
abused and have forgiven this is Sparky
when Sparky was found he had wounds that
were consistent with dogfighting he had
bite marks on his face he had severe
mange he was underweight he had his ears
cropped at home because they were
infected which ear crapping has done
typically by dog fighters so that when
two dogs are fighting that they do not
get caught in each other’s ears it’s
gross I know and he was just treated
like garbage by humans and this is Irene
when Irene was found she was in a
similar shape to Sparky
she was riddled with cancer she was
underweight and she also had her ears
cropped but she also had a large gash on
her neck that looked like someone had
intentionally tried to slit her throat
but in hearing these stories it’s not
meant to make you sad not only have they
taught me about forgiveness but they’ve
also taught me that what happens to you
does not define who you are after my
sexual assault I felt like everything
that I had become was because of that
assault who I was was because of that
event and what these dogs taught me with
that was that that is not the case
Sparky was not defined by his
dogfighting past instead Sparky’s
defined by his love of cuddles his
wiggly but his cute little fat rolls you
can see his love of every human and
every dog that he met and Irene was not
defined by her horrific past with human
beings
instead she’s divine she’s defined by
her resilient attitude her love of
her amazing attitude towards humans and
also her ability to take a fantastic
photo I mean look at that
like I want those skills and what I
realize in hearing all these dog stories
is that what happened to me does not
define me what defines me is my love of
travel this was me in Hawaii just about
a month ago and my attempt at sense of
humor my best friend’s gonna kill me
because she doesn’t know that I put this
picture in here but I didn’t I try to be
funny guys I really do but but also what
defines me is my love and compassion for
these animals and so I want to leave you
with this and I apologize if I get
emotional if you have ever been through
something that has made you feel like
you have no voice or no power or no
worth I want you to know that you do
because no one can ever take that away
sorry after my assault I felt like I had
nothing and through these sorry through
these dogs I have found my voice again
and so I want to encourage you if you
feel that way to find your pitbull find
your something that breaks down the
barricades the blockades the roadblocks
the mountains whatever it is that
someone put in front of you to try to
squander your voice I want you to find
something that breaks through that
because you always have your voice and
you always have your power like Glinda
tells Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz you’ve
always had the power my dear you just
needed to find it for yourself so if you
feel that way I encourage you too
you’re pitbull thank you [Applause]
hello when I was seven years old I was
in the second grade I was painfully shy
and very tall which you would not guess
but my parents are here they can attest
to that
I was very tall I was caring and
trusting and I loved to play with
Barbies and I had just met my best
friend in the entire world and one day
my school’s custodian asked me to help
him with a project I remember going into
the gym and his janitorial closet was in
there and I remember walking in and
there were shelves and shelves of tools
and a small bench in the middle of the
room and in that room when I was 7 I
stopped trusting people after my sexual
assault
I felt voiceless I felt powerless and I
felt worthless I felt for the longest
time that all I was was a sexual object
for men and I’d be lying if I said I’d
still didn’t struggle with these but a
few years ago something happened that
helped me evolve with sexual assault
being such a prevalent topic in today’s
society I thought it was important that
I share my story especially on a college
campus and my journey to finding my
voice my power and my worth again and my
journey started with a black and white
blockhead named Farris he’s cute isn’t
he yeah I rescued Ferris in the fall of
2015 when he was 10 years old I had
never had a pitbull I only had small
dogs growing up so I don’t know what
drove me to get a pitbull but I think it
was fate unfortunately after only nine
months of having him he developed a rare
form of cans
and passed away but after he died I
began researching more and more about
pit bulls and what I found was that they
are the most abused breed of dog they
are continuously mutilated manipulated
abused and neglected by human beings but
they are also the most forgiving breed
of dog and they continue to love the
very creatures that hurt them the most
and so today I’m gonna share with you
two stories two of just millions of
stories of pit bulls who have been
abused and have forgiven this is Sparky
when Sparky was found he had wounds that
were consistent with dogfighting he had
bite marks on his face he had severe
mange he was underweight he had his ears
cropped at home because they were
infected which ear crapping has done
typically by dog fighters so that when
two dogs are fighting that they do not
get caught in each other’s ears it’s
gross I know and he was just treated
like garbage by humans and this is Irene
when Irene was found she was in a
similar shape to Sparky
she was riddled with cancer she was
underweight and she also had her ears
cropped but she also had a large gash on
her neck that looked like someone had
intentionally tried to slit her throat
but in hearing these stories it’s not
meant to make you sad not only have they
taught me about forgiveness but they’ve
also taught me that what happens to you
does not define who you are after my
sexual assault I felt like everything
that I had become was because of that
assault who I was was because of that
event and what these dogs taught me with
that was that that is not the case
Sparky was not defined by his
dogfighting past instead Sparky’s
defined by his love of cuddles his
wiggly but his cute little fat rolls you
can see his love of every human and
every dog that he met and Irene was not
defined by her horrific past with human
beings
instead she’s divine she’s defined by
her resilient attitude her love of
her amazing attitude towards humans and
also her ability to take a fantastic
photo I mean look at that
like I want those skills and what I
realize in hearing all these dog stories
is that what happened to me does not
define me what defines me is my love of
travel this was me in Hawaii just about
a month ago and my attempt at sense of
humor my best friend’s gonna kill me
because she doesn’t know that I put this
picture in here but I didn’t I try to be
funny guys I really do but but also what
defines me is my love and compassion for
these animals and so I want to leave you
with this and I apologize if I get
emotional if you have ever been through
something that has made you feel like
you have no voice or no power or no
worth I want you to know that you do
because no one can ever take that away
sorry after my assault I felt like I had
nothing and through these sorry through
these dogs I have found my voice again
and so I want to encourage you if you
feel that way to find your pitbull find
your something that breaks down the
barricades the blockades the roadblocks
the mountains whatever it is that
someone put in front of you to try to
squander your voice I want you to find
something that breaks through that
because you always have your voice and
you always have your power like Glinda
tells Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz you’ve
always had the power my dear you just
needed to find it for yourself so if you
feel that way I encourage you too
you’re pitbull thank you [Applause]
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