At Santa Clara University, first-year students often live in the Residential Learning Communities, ecstatic to start the new chapter of their life. They push the boundaries of their old lives and begin exploring the different world of college, but as they begin to interact with on
e another, a problem emerges when they get too comfortable.
Although some may say that it’s imperative to fully express oneself to genuinely display one’s character, it’s more essential to be cognizant of our own actions. This does not suggest that students should shadow their true personalities, but rather, for the sake of respecting both the intangible and physical attributes of comfortability, they must learn to identify the border that distinguishes what other individuals accept and reject.
On campus, the violation of one’s comfortability is most frequently seen between roommates. Here at Santa Clara University, one freshman [Person A], stated, “I never stay in my room because my roommate [Person B], never cleans any of his mess, which triggers nasty odors everywhere.” This is a prime example of
violating another’s comfort, as Person B’s ignorance exiled his roommate. Some may argue that staying in the dorm room is very uninvolving, but as recent emigrants from our homes, the dorm room most resembles our previous place of rest. Being uncomfortable in one’s own room will inevitably lead to stress, causing negative side effects.
One of the most prevalent and inescapable circumstances caused by stress is the plummet of a student’s academic performance. In high school, I had friends that struggled due to their strict parents, which ultimately led to terrible test grades, motivational failure, and increased tensions at home. It’s critical to visualize how the horrors of stress are directly correlated to our incapability to identify one’s border. Thus, it is our responsibility to be mindful of the border that delineates the acceptable actions from the unacceptable ones. 
Similar to the consequence that ensues after an individual’s abstract privacy is compromised, violation of physical comfort may lead to academic failures and fear of socialization. Generally sparked by the consumption of alcohol, sexual assault is one of the most common forms of intruding physical privacy. Statistical analysis suggests that “approximately one-half of all sexual assaults are committed by men who have been drinking alcohol. Depending on the sample studied and the measures used, the estimates for alcohol use among perpetrators have ranged from 34 to 74 percent” (“Alcohol and Sexual Assault”). Evidently, alcohol serves as a medium which may instigate individuals to invade the physical privacy of another’s body.
The reality of victims of sexual assault struggling to recover for the rest of their lives is constituted by their overridden consent. We see similar tragedies at Santa Clara University on a regular basis, but many go unreported because the majority of the violated students fall into a psychological shock, which prevents them from reaching out for help in fear of being harmed once again.
Although it’s important to expose ourselves and be vulnerable towards others in building strong relationships, to avoid violating the physical and nonphysical aspects of comfortability, we must be aware and conscious of others to sustain their security.
Source(s):
“Alcohol and Sexual Assault.” National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh25-1/43-51.htm.