It’s less at Colorado College, but it’s still there. On American college campuses, there is a very disturbing trend. MCF: How do you think your story and novel impacts Colorado College students, especially those who are currently experiencing similar situations to the one you did?ĪM: This is an epidemic and it’s happening across the country and all over the world. You’ll figure out for yourself what makes you happy and commit to the work that makes you happy. … You deserve to be happy and your happiness is your responsibility. The only way to change is to change and understand what follows … You are brave enough and strong enough. MCF: What would you say the major takeaways are from your book?ĪM: The major takeaways are whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right you are so much stronger than you really think you are. It’s just a map to reveal the path out of trauma. My hope was that this book will be a map for women, I mean not exclusively for women, for who were in my position who were violated and felt lost and ashamed and stuck in their sadness or in their shame. Maylin Cardoso Fuentes: What was your main purpose in writing this memoir? Did you intend on simply documenting a memoir of your experiences or did you attempt to write something that could inspire many women who went through similar experiences to yours?Īspen Matis: I think more the latter. I’ve had the pleasure to interview Matis and delve into her ideas about the book, explore her attitude that being raped is not the end of the world, and that one can regain one’s strength and happiness after being objectified in one of the most inhumane ways. Soon after, now best-selling author Matis published “Girl in the Woods,” a memoir that vividly describes her terrifying yet empowering experience of dealing with the sexual assault that plagued her first days at Colorado College, and with the challenges and dangers that emerged while hiking the entirety of the Pacific Crest Trail with only a backpack. Though she faced challenges ranging from starvation and thirst to the extreme weather conditions posed by the variety of climates traversed, Matis completed the journey and reclaimed her body and identity that were dehumanized by her rape and the campus administration’s treatment of her crime.

The Pacific Crest Trail is a 2650-mile trail that spans from the deserts of Mexico, to the mountains and tundras of Canada. Much to her dismay, the school dismissed the rape as a simple “hallucination.” Matis dropped out of Colorado College and pursued hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in an attempt to recover her own body. She instantly pleaded for justice against the perpetrator.

On her third day as a freshman, she was raped by a male student from her own dorm room. Over eight years ago, Aspen Matis was a Colorado College student.

Girl in the Woods by Aspen Matis