By Scarlett Birge, student news writer, Office of University Communications

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - “I feel more prepared and empowered in my body,” said Kelsey Overall, a freshman of Knoxville, Tenn., after attending CU's four-hour long Women's Protection and Self-Defense course sponsored by ResLife, Campus Safety and Students Activity recently.

The certified training course led attendees through mental and physical skills and resources needed to protect themselves when combatting physical assault.

“It helped to teach us that if it came down to a life-or-death situation, you need to have that mindset to do what is necessary,” Overall said. “I feel more prepared than I was.”

Building more skill and confidence in a controlled and comfortable environment helped Overall, along with several other students in attendance, to safely gain the knowledge of how to ward off attackers.

“I honestly don't know what I would have done if I had been put in a situation like this before I took the class,” she said.

Learning alongside other women invoked a sense of empathy, Overall said. The seriousness of the situation was heightened by having the understanding that physical assault is a reality many women have faced in their lives.

“There were people who had experienced incidents before and they brought that to the table,” she said.

Overall said the combination of the skills she learned from the self-defense course combined with her natural fight or flight reactions make her feel more confident about what to do with her body when confronting assault.

“If some situations were to come upon me, I feel more aware about how to handle it,” Overall said.

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 12,000 students offering over 100 programs of study including Ph.D., master, baccalaureate, associate, pre-professional and certification programs. The website for complete information is www.campbellsville.edu.