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Isabel Gisser

HerSpace co-presidents Adelia Bergner and Nitya Thakkar practice the "front cat" move.

Members of the SPA community gathered in Bigelow Commons on April 17 for a session lead by Not Me! a Minnesota based organization focused on “violence prevention training and education.” Not Me! lead trainer, Karla Rapp, led participants through self defense maneuvers and precautionary strategies.

Self defense has traditionally been incorporated into the annual senior retreat but was not included this year. Several club leaders saw the value of these lessons and hoped to bring back self defense training and make it accessible to the student body.

“I took the class because I’ve never done any sort of self defense and I feel like it’s something I should know before going off to college,” said senior and member of Peer Helpers, Eliza Reedy. “It was scary, but honestly really helpful to have time to really consider how I’d react if I was in a dangerous situation and know how to change that mindset.”