Public Safety Crime Prevention Sergeant Wells Farnham, in conjunction with the Wellness Center, held a self-defense class on May 5 for members of the St. Thomas community.

About a dozen female students attended the class in an Anderson Athletic Recreation Complex studio room to learn about how to protect themselves. Farnham taught them verbal skills and physical tools to use if they ever face an immediate threat.

Freshman Alysse Berry took the class and said there was a lot she didn’t know about how to protect herself and others around her.

“I learned so much,” Berry said. “I learned that you can scratch people’s eyes out, as gross as it sounds, and just kind of how to be as safe as I can in public.”

Farnham and other Public Safety officers have led classes similar to this at St. Thomas, and Farnham said he hopes all students could take one.

“It’s important, especially for young adults who are becoming more and more independent, to have that knowledge of how to protect yourself,” Farnham said.

Senior Kelly Geraghty took the class and said she also wishes all students would sign up for something similar.

“I just always think personal safety is an important topic for everyone, girls especially,” Geraghty said. “It’s nice to remind yourself of tips and tricks you can use now that I’m leaving college.”

A large focus of the class was to clarify that self-defense is a very broad topic of education and involves more than just physically protecting yourself. Farnham said most people have a misconception of what self-defense is.

“A lot of people tend to assume that self-defense is like martial arts. The tools for self-defense class often come from martial arts, but they’re not the same thing,” Farnham said. “Self-defense isn’t just learning to hurt people; it’s stopping and taking inventory, checking with yourself.

Farnham added that staying safe includes taking a number of precautions.

“Come November, are you thinking about what is in your car should it die? That’s part of self-defense,” he said, “It’s all just taking inventory of those things that you can control to keep yourself safe and healthy.”

The 90-minute class covered numerous topics relevant to the safety of college students, including utilizing Public Safety as a resource if one feels unsafe.

Geraghty said students shouldn’t feel intimidated to try it out.

“I would definitely advise all female students to take a class like this,” Geraghty said. “It’s really informative, and you don’t need to be athletic by any means to do it.”

Berry agreed and said self-defense is a particularly important tool for students in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area.

“I’d absolutely tell my friends to take a class like this,” she said. “Especially being in a big city area, you never know what is going to happen, and it’s important to be prepared.”

For those students who do not get the chance to take the class, Farnham said the most important piece of information he can give to students is to trust their instincts.

“I think the easiest thing students can do to be safe is to just keep your radar on and trust your instincts,” Farnham said. “If you don’t feel safe and you tell yourself, ‘Oh, I’m just being silly,’ well, maybe you’re not. Pay attention to that. Trust that and honor that.”

Lauren Andrego can be reached at andr0090@stthomas.edu.