In college, many people struggle silently; most people take it all in by themselves until they explode. This week marks the 40th Annual National Suicide Prevention Week. While this week may just be another passing week that no one really pays attention to, I want everyone to take a step back and think about those millions that have been affected by suicide. I have a tattoo of a semi-colon on my ankle in remembrance of a boy I never got to know personally, but I know his family, and I know what it is like to struggle alone. My semi-colon tattoo represents not the end of a sentence, but a continuum of my story. My life is not just a sentence, it is a whole book. Do not end your story right now with a period. Instead, end this chapter of your life with a semi-colon, and keep going.
Most people that want to end their lives do so because they want their pain to stop, they want to be loved, and they want to stop feeling broken. Society tells them to stay quiet and suffer in silence, but I am here, and this week is for you. It is time to take action and stop the stigma of mental illness and depression. Stop blaming the survivors, stop telling them to "get over it." Instead of brushing their feelings off, offer to get a cup of coffee with them.
College is full of people with intelligent minds and wonderful hearts, but college is also full of stress. Even though each student is surrounded by people all the time, it can get really lonely. College can be difficult for people who are battling their own mind on a daily basis.
This past summer, I met Jamie Tworkowski, the founder of To Write Love on Her Arms, and he encouraged me personally, to reach out and share my story. He encouraged me to change the world, despite the opposition I have faced in the short 18 years I have been on this earth. He challenged me to talk about the hard stuff. After all, if we don't talk about the hard stuff as college kids, how will we ever change this world for the better? We have to take a stand as the future of this country, and we have to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.
Do not tell someone who is hurting that they are broken, and do not blame them for the way they feel or think of them as cowards. In fact, those people deserve so much more love because everyday they want to leave this world, yet they keep choosing to stay. They keep fighting.
For those that have left this world due to suicide, we have to be their advocates. We have to take a stand. We have to love and give hope to everyone around us. To Write Love on Her Arms released a video that is posted at the end of this article, and I challenge you all to watch it. Absorb the lyrics. Write down the lyrics that stand out.
I also challenge you to go up to someone who may be struggling and start a conversation. Let them know that they are not alone. That is what saved my life; that is what helped me keep going. I kept fighting, and I kept striving for love and strength. I felt like I was broken down into nothing, and I had to learn to love myself again. But you know what? I did it. I am here and I will fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. Will you?
