My sophomore year in high school started with a tragedy. A peer I saw every day took his own life on the second week of school. I watched as my whole grade fell apart and suffered through the loss of a friend. I didn't know him well; I saw him in the morning because he was always in the same teacher's class and I followed him on Instagram. Once my mom got the email that he passed, I assumed it was some kind of freak accident, like a car accident, but when I walked into school next day I saw friends of mine sobbing and talking about suicide. I went to my first period and cried the whole time; I even went to the bathroom to cool down. My teachers let us have the day to ourselves and do what we needed. There were grief counseling stations set up in the media center for anyone who needed it.
He was a very sweet guy and literally everybody was his friend, but he was hiding his pain. The people who talked to him every day didn't know how bad he felt inside. He affected the entire school, and it brought us all together. I remember texting a girl I didn't know to say that we should be friends and she responded with "I love you." His funeral was an open casket. I saw his lifeless body and could not believe that he had been breathing just a week before. His family's speeches were the saddest part; they shared funny stories, but when the laughter stopped, you could feel their pain rushing back into their bodies. A lot of kids from my grade came, and afterwards we huddled in a circle and his 3 closest friends spoke about how if anybody needed anything they were there, even if we had never spoken to them.
We all grew together but it took some time for school to feel normal again. I no longer feel the need to hold grudges, truly dislike a person, or have drama because in a split second that won't matter. If you feel like you're overwhelmed with life, depressed, or suicidal I beg of you to talk to someone or get help. Suicide isn't to be taken lightly; it affects everyone, even people you don't know. Please be kind to everyone, and if you have a grudge or a problem with someone, end it. It's not worth it.
