Vermont-based public speaker and founder of Stand Up Resources Anna Nasset, visited campus on Monday to share her experience with stalking, sexual assault, and abuse, but to also share tips and methods for those who have fallen victim to such issues.

At the age of 19, Nasset said she was in the car with her friends and reading a book about painter Georgia O’Keeffe when she learned that O’Keeffe was sexually assaulted by her own father and brother.

It was at that moment that memories of abuse that she had concealed about her male childhood babysitter rushed back into her mind.

“When I got back to campus that weekend I sought after my sister and I asked her if anything had happened [with him],” Nasset said. “She broke down sobbing and confirmed my worst nightmare that this man had molested me as a child, and I had repressed those memories of all of those years.”

This, unfortunately, was not the first time that Nasset encountered sexual harassment. That same year she was raped at a college party and blamed herself for years about what happened.

In high school, she had the dream of being the first female head of an athletic training department for the NFL. That dream came crashing down, though, when she was assigned a job as a student trainer for the high school football team.

“One of the football players wanted to date me and I had no interest in him,” Nasset said. “So he and his other classmates and teammates began harassing me everywhere I went, both physically and verbally. There was no place that was safe.”

Nasset also experienced incidents of harassment from her high school homeroom teacher. Upon sharing with her parents the things that were going on at school and filing a complaint, unfortunately, the teacher received minimal punishment and Nasset just switched homerooms. Eventually, she ended up switching schools.

At the age of 29, she moved to Washington and began pursuing fine arts. She purchased an art gallery with just $200 in her bank account, a dream, and a business plan.

Nasset began experiencing suspicious stalking incidents in 2011 after an open gallery show, and they continued for a shocking 8.5 years. He was a complete stranger, who would end up terrorizing her life. He would show up at work, stalk her on social media, message her thousands upon thousands of times, and still managed to find her when she moved across the country from Washington to Vermont.

“Even though I loved Washington state with all of my heart and my community and my friends, I had to go find a way to feel safe,” Nasset said. “Back in Washington I was living in this tiny little bubble of existence, and I wasn’t going to ever be able to have any kind of life if I stayed.”

It took years for Nasset to build a court case against her offender. She had to gather evidence, talk to dozens of detectives, and testify on the stand while looking in the eyes of the man who controlled her life for so many years. He continued to try to reach out to her during the trial by writing letters to the prosecution that he hoped would be delivered to Nasset.

Her stalker only recently began his sentence of ten years this past September.

“Something that is so prevalent for each one of us who have been a victim of stalking, a victim of sexual violence, whatever it might be, is that these little things that nobody else would know trigger us,” Nasset said. “They really stop us from being able to continue with our day, or our train of thought.”

So while trying to find normalcy in her life in the months since, Nasset is also beginning to find her voice again. This time, it’s coming back stronger and better than ever. She has turned her story of abuse into one of speaking, outreach, and activism.

Nasset suggests that college campuses create a culture of care for victims and survivors. By this, she means that teammates, classmates, neighbors, strangers, and friends stand together beside someone who is a victim, and help them grow and gain their voice again.

She also suggests some specific actions one can take, either as a bystander or as someone who suspects someone is stalking them.

She encouraged the audience to be a strong emotional support system for friends who have been harmed. She also noted that as young college adults, students should be aware in public if someone seems to be in harm’s way. Someone who is a victim of stalking specifically in a college setting may consistently skip class, stay home, and develop behaviors consistent with those of someone struggling with depression or anxiety.

The audience learned numerous lessons during Nasset’s event, including to use your voice for those who don’t have one, stand up for those who can’t, and trust your instincts.