Last Friday my friends and I walked through the commons, like we do everyday, to grab dinner and chat with classmates. We walked right by the glass study room of East and saw hundreds of backpacks on the floor. I thought that color backpacks belonged to students who were being given a tour to Penn State like we see daily all over campus.I was wrong. These backpacks did not belong to interested High Schoolers or perspective students. In fact, they stood for something completely different. Theses 1,100 represented "the 1,100 college student lives lost to suicide each year," (Glossner).
On April 4, the Daily Collegian posted an article pertaining to this event that raised awareness about the number of suicides that occur each year throughout colleges. "In the second of 14 campus stops across the country, Send Silence Packing, a campaign by Active Minds Inc., collects and displays backpacks in memory of the college students who have committed suicide," (Glossner). Among the backpacks were personal stories about individual suicides. Some of these back packs were the actual student's that they carried their college books in for class just like we do each day.
Students passing through East Halls on Friday were invited to walk through the aisles of backpacks and read the stories each one had to tell. I wish that I would have stopped to learn more about how prevalent suicide is among college students today. It alarming to me to think about how many students take their lives. A statistic that they had taped to one of the glass windows read, "67% of students who have suicidal thoughts tell a friend first. LISTEN." I hope that if any of my friends have ever debated about suicide or if the thought ever came to mind, that they would share their thoughts with me. I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I had a chance to help someone going through this and failed.
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2011/04/04/Send_Silence_packing.aspx
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