I have been living in Grand Junction, Colorado for a year now and I haven’t felt unsafe once. It is very rare for me to feel unsafe on campus because I come from a country where I can’t walk on the street with my phone in my hand.
Safety is a matter of perspective. Humans spent thousands of years surviving and now we are somewhat less primal. At the same time, we are not faced with the same problems as before (at least not in the United States). However, humans still easily submit to those primal instincts when afraid..
Often when people don’t feel safe, irrational acts follow. Regardless of actual levels of safety, that fear sticks. Our brains make up fake irrational beliefs to keep us “safe.”
According to the Common Sense Institute, the crime rate in Grand Junction was 7.66 per 1,000 residents in 2022. In Bogotá Colombia (where I come from) it is at 66.39 per 1,000 residents as of Nov 2024. That’s almost 10 times higher than Grand Junction.
I’ve been told terrifying stories by my relatives back home about them being mugged in the street in broad daylight. One time, my aunt told me that someone pressed a knife against her throat while demanding her cell phone. I am not sure how often these kinds of things happen on campus or Grand Junction, but I haven’t heard anything of the sort.
Personally I have never felt unsafe in any way whatsoever and I am used to leaving my friend’s dorm after midnight. Now that I live off campus I have to ride a bike for 20 minutes to home. Nothing weird has ever happened to me.
I think the most dangerous thing that could happen to you in this place (as a male) is getting your car stolen, which is the most irritating thing ever, but it is not necessarily dangerous. I have never felt discriminated against by anything or anyone on campus.
I did see a truck driving around campus very late at night. It was one of the stupidest things that I’ve seen on this campus so far which made me uneasy. That is just one instance where I felt slightly unsafe but it was probably nothing.
Sometimes we are paranoid for no reason. If we must be cautious all the time, is life really worth living when ruled by fear? We only live once.
