I am Chris Diket’s daughter. He taught here and teaches at EDW in Thibodaux. I have just read the article about Alicia Kozak’s experience with domestic violence, and I too have gone through a very trying relationship with an abuser.I was married to him a little over two years ago. We met on an online dating site for members of my church. I had no intentions of talking to him since he was a bit older than what I am comfortable with, but through manipulation, he convinced me that he was the only perfect man for me. Well, needless to say, that was a total lie.

What made the circumstances worse for me was that he lives in Canada, and I moved there with him. So he separated me from my family physically, and thus proceeded to separate me from my family mentally and spiritually. I was convinced that my mother was psychotic, and that my father was a worm of a man. Therefore, it did me no good to talk to them.

I do not want to repeat everything that Kozak has already said, for all abusers have the similarities. The one thing I would like everyone to know who has gone through this situation is that you are not alone, and you are not crazy. Even though I did not have the same thoughts as most victims of abuse, I had more knowledge than the average victim. So, in no way do I consider myself a saint in the situation.

I was very lucky to have loving parents who were willing to drive the 24 hours to come get me and bring me home. I am very lucky to just be alive. My situation was very dangerous, and I now know that there were attempts made to damage my life. My husband purposely put me in situations where I got hurt, so that he would have an excuse to yell at me for being an idiot or something stupid. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that I am out of that situation. I am still legally married to him, only because this has recently happened, and it takes time to get a divorce.

Because of my experience, I have found my passion in life as Kozak has. I am going to Nicholls State University as a psychology major in hopes of becoming a psychological counselor, so that I may be able to help others like me and so that I can be a voice to help educate people on this issue to prevent anyone from becoming a victim of abuse.

I am very happy to see the article about Alicia Kozak in The Nicholls Worth. I hope that more people can see the importance of this issue being addressed in school so that kids know that it is wrong and know that they can get out and get help.

Audrey Diket

Psychology freshman