COLUMN: Running away from empty

After growing up in Washington, the city named the murder capital of the world (preliminary government statistics show murders last year increasing 10 percent from 1995 when they were down 3 percent across the nation), I thought I was prepared for anything. But during my first few weeks as a freshman last fall, I soon realized that I had an unrealistic view of safety and that I would need to change many habits in order to be safe and continue to live my life. Although it was only my second day at Penn, I was a little overwhelmed to be sitting in a huge lecture hall and being told to carry a fake wallet around so that I could forfeit it -- instead of my real wallet --during a mugging. "What have I gotten myself into?" I asked myself as I left the seminar, clutching my purse tighter than ever. But even though that lecture scared me to death, as I walked back to the Quadrangle that day, nothing about the streets of Philadelphia seemed any more dangerous than any street in Washington. It was later -- during my favorite time of the day, when I go running -- that I began to feel unsafe around much of the Penn campus and realized the safety lecture was not worthless. As a cross-country runner in high school, I coveted my time during the day when I got to forget everything, strap on my Walkman and simply run. After a long day of freshman seminars, I was excited to escape to the familiar world of running and explore my new city. Not really knowing my way around very well, I decided to weave my way through the streets and create a little loop. Things started out well, but soon I grew uncomfortable. It wasn't that people around me were scaring me -- there was no one around. I was scared because I was running through dark, empty streets. Soon my world of running wasn't so familiar. I turned off my Walkman and ran as fast as I could back to the Quad. Maybe panicking wasn't the best thing to do, but at the time it seemed to make sense. I was in a bad situation and just wanted to get out of it. For the next several days I restricted my runs to the track at Franklin Field. I tried to find running companions to venture out into the streets with me, but I was unsuccessful in finding anyone who wanted to run at my pace. Soon I grew frustrated at the track. Trying to run five miles on the track made me feel like a hamster in a spinning wheel -- I was running and getting nowhere. Finally, after about my third week at Penn, I decided enough was enough, and I had to run elsewhere. I carefully studied maps of the city and planned a run downtown. Using the street smarts I picked up in Washington, I ran facing traffic, preferably on one-way streets so that cars couldn't turn around and nab me. I ran into Center City along Walnut Street and soon found myself in the Rittenhouse Square area. I was exhilarated -- and it was honestly one of the best runs of my life. For one thing, I was thrilled to see that there really was an actual city in Philadelphia and that life did include more than Wawas and hoagies in this new city I called home. But more importantly, that run made me proud of myself. I was happy that I was able to overcome my fear of the streets of Philadelphia and to continue to do the things I love. I hope you in no way think I feel completely safe in Philadelphia, especially in the area immediately surrounding Penn. Instead, I hope you realize the importance of accepting the danger of our campus and adapting to it. For me, running is one of the most important times of the day, so it was necessary for me to change certain habits. But for the entire year, I had to remind myself I was no longer in Washington and that I had to be more careful. I ran different routes at various times of day, with the volume of my radio lower than usual. By the time I went home in May, I felt like West Philadelphia was really my home and somewhere I could feel safe. My running smarts helped me become more aware of my surroundings in all situations.

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