Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Jake Verterano

Katie Mageeney's childhood was anything but easy. Katie's mom gave birth to her when she was a junior in college.

Her mom did not raise her until the age of five and her dad was not even around. Sex was a scary word for Katie. Throughout her high school career she kept her virginity.

Mageeney came to Cabrini in 2007 as an 18-year-old college student looking to meet new friends, learn new lessons and experience life away from her home in Norristown, Pa.

She met a boy, and they began spending time with one another, then they dated and then sex entered the picture.

Early in her freshmen year, her now ex-boyfriend asked her to have sex. "I cried the first three times he asked me [to have sex] because of my background," Mageeney said.

"I was shocked that I let it happen so soon but we had hung out everyday and it seemed like the right time," Mageeney said.

Mageeney made the decision to lose her virginity. At the time it seemed like the right thing to do.

But looking back on her decision, her mindset has changed.

"I couldn't have kept my relationship but I could have kept my virginity if I walked away," Mageeney said.

Mageeney, like many Cabrini students, knows that walking away from sex is not an easy task.

But recently, groups promoting abstinence and virginity have become more widely talked about.

In colleges around the country, abstinence groups have formed and have college students examining their values and morals when it comes to virginity and sex.

For years abstinence groups were seen mainly in high schools.

However, as many college students grew up being exposed to these organizations, the movement has evolved into a new generation of activists.

Although Cabrini College does not have such a group, the issue of sex is a concern for some of its students.

Abstinence is a personal choice: each Cabrini student views sex and their virginity in a unique manner.

"Yes, I completely regret it. Even when we were together I did. But once you do it with someone you can't just take it away," Mageeney said.

"Sex has just become so common for our generation," sophomore human resources major Kelly Sweeney said. "People don't see it as something special between two people; they just do it all the time."

Continued...

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