Fordham Stories

I've had the honor now of co-presenting at a social media and law class at Fordham University a few times and am always struck by one important thing: how completely foreign my experience is to people. Since it is my reality, and the reality of so many I know either directly or indirectly, it seems to me almost like reporting the news. But when you have to explain to a room full of college students how you ended up in the situation you did, and how that dynamic continues even 5 1/2 years post-escape, you realize that your life is the stuff of nightmares.

It's then when I see how woefully inadequate we are as a society at informing and preparing our young people for abusers, bullies and criminals they will likely encounter in some way on their life path. I'm a great example. Super-high IQ and a lot of common sense, but as a kid and even into my 20s and 30s, I had no idea what I was dealing with. It wasn't until after I divorced him that I saw the worst.

We are here among you, working, living, trying to get on with things. Our stories are painful and sometimes unbelievable, but they are our badge of courage, our way to say, "See what I survived? I will prevail!"

Standing tall,
AC