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MCC Daily Tribune

An Evening of Ladies Self-Defense with Professor Otero

Professor Chris Otero does it again! MCC Upward Bound (UB) invited Professor Otero back after his self-defense workshop for the Upward Bound young men in October to offer a similar workshop for UB young women on December 11. Given the high rates of verbal, physical, and sexual assault that females experience, both in high school and college, Professor Otero wanted to prepare our female students for these challenging realities. He began by facilitating a conversation during dinner about the types of assault commonly experienced by females. During the conversation, students shared stories of ways they themselves or people they knew had been assaulted or harassed in school. After the discussion, they went to the dance studio and Professor Otero taught the young women how to defend themselves against choking, being attack from behind, and more. The students loved Professor Otero's engaging style and openness in conversation: "We need more events like this", reflected senior Nyelah. "I want to start a girls' group at my high school so we can have similar conversations, where girls can be transparent about the painful things we go through every day. That way, we can support each other better."

We are so grateful to Professor Otero for his continued collaboration with the Upward Bound Programs. This was the fourth self-defense workshop he has led for our students, and all four have been incredible!

Paul Stack
Upward Bound
01/15/2019