Okay… so this is a heavy one. Like, really, really heavy. If you’ve watched Off Campus on Prime Video, you know that Hannah’s storyline as a sexual assault survivor hit different for a lot of us — but for me, it hit different different, because it’s my story too.
This episode is me finally telling it. All of it. The parts I’ve never said out loud in public, the parts I only just told my husband Kevin, and the parts that took me 12 years and a Forever 21 plastic bag full of old clothes to be ready to share.
A heads up that this is also the final episode of Small Girl Big Talk. I talk about why toward the end (PS: it has nothing to do with this story and everything to do with adulting 🥲)
Trigger warning: this episode talks openly about sexual assault, consent, depression, and PTSD.
Please take care of yourself first. If you need to pause, skip around, or sit this one out completely, that’s okay. I made the chapters below so you can navigate it on your terms.
A few things you’ll hear in this one:
- why Off Campus felt like watching my own university years back at me
- the moment I didn’t know I’d been assaulted until I read a poster on a bathroom door
- what actually happened when I went to my university’s Sexual Assault Centre (and why I’m still grateful for it)
- the wild plot twist involving my birthday, my assault, and meeting my husband
- the dress and the skirt I kept for over a decade… and what I’m finally doing with them
- why I’m wrapping up this podcast, and how to stay in touch with me after this
If you’re new here — hi, I’m Wendy. this is probably not the first impression I would’ve picked for you, but I hope you stick around for the other, lighter sides of me too.
Listen to the full episode now:
“I’m no longer going to struggle in silence, and at the same time I’m no longer going to let this define me.”
Timestamp:
- 0:00 Intro Why I’m Obsessed With Off Campus
- 1:16 Heads Up: This Is the Final Episode + Trigger Warning
- 3:33 Why This Story, Why Now
- 7:34 Sitting Down to Tell the Story
- 9:40 The First Incident
- 11:18 The Second Incident — My 21st Birthday
- 12:15 Realizing It Was Rape
- 16:25 Off Campus Parallels — Hannah’s Story Mirrored Mine
- 18:11 Why the Sexual Assault Centre Helped (Even Though It Hurt)
- 22:19 More Off Campus Moments That Hit Home
- 24:09 Thank You Elle Kennedy and all the Cast and Crew
- 26:07 The Dress & Skirt — What I’m Going to Do With Them
- 27:38 Why I’m Ending Small Girl, Big Talk
- 31:16 The Hopeful Ending — Meeting Kevin, Healing, Marriage
- 33:20 How to Keep in Touch
- 34:18 Thank You + Reflecting on the Show’s Seasons
- 36:36 Showing the Dress & Skirt
“This would be your first impression of me, but please don’t remember me as the girl that was raped. Remember me for all the other fun, interesting identities that I am now.”
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Detailed Summary:
Some stories take over a decade to feel ready to tell. In this final episode of Small Girl Big Talk, the conversation centers on a deeply personal sexual assault experience from university — one that resurfaced unexpectedly after watching a show that mirrored it almost scene for scene, and a forgotten dress pulled out of storage by a parent during a routine declutter.
Realizing It Happened
The story unfolds across two separate incidents during university — both involving alcohol, both initially misunderstood or minimized in the moment. It wasn’t immediately clear that either incident constituted sexual assault. Recognition came later, gradually, prompted by educational posters at a campus sexual assault resource center about consent — specifically, that being drunk removes the ability to consent, and that silence is not agreement. Sitting down with an advisor and hearing the word “rape” applied to her own experience marked a turning point: the moment a survivor moves from confusion into the harder reality of what actually happened — often the most painful moment in the entire process.
Why the Right Resources Matter So Much
A central thread of this episode is gratitude for the support system available at the time — a university sexual assault center that explained all available options without pressure, including the realistic, sobering odds of pursuing a police report in a situation involving alcohol and no other witnesses. That same center connected her to medical care, and later, to counseling services that took the situation seriously enough to defer an entire semester’s exams. Friends played a major role too — one let her stay in her room for months without question, simply because she didn’t feel safe returning home. The episode makes the point clearly: having the right people and the right resources nearby in that early window can be the difference between spiraling and stabilizing.
Burying It, Then Being Triggered Years Later
Rather than processing the assault immediately, the response was to stay busy — schoolwork, extracurriculars, distraction. But unresolved trauma doesn’t stay buried. Years later, a TV show portraying a strikingly similar experience triggered a wave of memories and emotions intense enough to bring on depression. The episode draws a direct line between avoiding the issue in the moment and the long tail of mental health struggles that followed — including years of therapy, antidepressants, spiritual support, and unhealthy coping patterns rooted in shame.
Healing, Years Later
Now, twelve to thirteen years after the incidents, the story is told from a place of healing rather than open wounds. A meaningful turning point came in the form of marriage to a partner who accepted the full picture — not just the assault itself, but the messier aftermath of how the trauma shaped behavior in the years that followed. In a twist she calls one of life’s nicer gifts, the original assault happened on a birthday — and years later, she met her now-husband on that same date.
Letting Go of the Identity of “Victim”
A quietly powerful detail: in revisiting this chapter, there’s a remembered moment of actually confronting one of the people involved — explaining, after learning what consent meant, that what happened wasn’t consensual. The conversation closes with two symbolic dresses worn the nights of the assaults, kept for over a decade as a private vision of eventually reclaiming power from them. Rather than a dramatic gesture, the closing message is simpler: the dresses, and the memories attached to them, no longer hold the weight they once did.
Why This Is the Final Episode
The episode doubles as a farewell to the podcast itself. What began as a passion project to feel less alone has, over several seasons — career changes, a wedding series, a manifested trip, guest conversations — run its course as priorities shift toward financial stability and other ventures. Rather than change the format or direction of the show, the choice was made to let it rest as it is, with the door left open for a future return. Going forward, a newsletter and Instagram will be the main places to stay connected.
Conclusion
This episode isn’t told for engagement or sympathy — it’s framed as a deliberate act of closure, sharing a story once and not repeating it again. The message to anyone still in their own healing process is gentle but clear: it’s possible to reach a place where the past no longer defines you, where the hardest chapters of your life become just one part of a much fuller story — alongside being a content creator, a coach, a rock climber, and so much more
