Once upon a time the P.Baldwin asked us to blog about a smattering of topics, one was Suicide. I will not discuss this topic. it is something that has affected me personally and that is all I will say on the matter. However I will share one thing on this blog for it.
My favorite poem:
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
Mary Elizabeth Frye - 1932
Showing posts with label suicide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suicide. Show all posts
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Saturday, 9 April 2011
A Changing Time
It's hard to see a place where you grew up change so fast. I remember the time when I played my first baseball game in high school and the handshakes that me and my friends had made. Now it’s normal for times to change; kids graduate and move on with their life and friends that were once close become distant and drift apart. We all have experienced this change, which is easier for some and more difficult for others. Some people choose to follow the path to a college degree while others stay back to enter the working world.
Within the last month, my graduated high school class has experienced almost 10 deaths all separate from each other. Some choose to take their own life while others had their life taken from them. Each case had a different story however they all had one thing in common. All the tears came from the same community. Parents mourned the death of their children while friends looked on in horror about the “plague” that was sweeping through the town.
While all the cases are devastating, the most recent was of a person I knew and lived very close to. Drugs drove him to a state where there was no turning back. He looked to suicide as his only hope and passed away only a couple of days ago. The hardest part is that he had it all and the drugs made him feel as if he was helpless. While we say strong and remember him forever, we must not forget that these cases of suicide are a sign. We must all stick together and be there for the ones we love and care about.
Within the last month, my graduated high school class has experienced almost 10 deaths all separate from each other. Some choose to take their own life while others had their life taken from them. Each case had a different story however they all had one thing in common. All the tears came from the same community. Parents mourned the death of their children while friends looked on in horror about the “plague” that was sweeping through the town.
While all the cases are devastating, the most recent was of a person I knew and lived very close to. Drugs drove him to a state where there was no turning back. He looked to suicide as his only hope and passed away only a couple of days ago. The hardest part is that he had it all and the drugs made him feel as if he was helpless. While we say strong and remember him forever, we must not forget that these cases of suicide are a sign. We must all stick together and be there for the ones we love and care about.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Team B
Life is full of ups and downs and twists and turns. It is those "rough times", however, that make us who we are. They build us up, add character, bring us spirit, and give us the will to move on. As a college student, we have all been exposed to these times; everything from financial problems to tragic deaths. Without them, we would not be as strong as we are today.
Wait...Dont Jump!!!The rate of suicide in America has been growing at a scary rate. People who cant support their families are feeling more pressure than ever and choosing death over life. Students who are overloaded with work and have the stress of a relationship on their back are feeling the pressure too. Its a tough subject to debate but just stay calm and remember, problems are temporary and death is permanent.
It seems that these days, the "unbrella" of health care is getting smaller and smaller. Not only are fewer people getting good health care, the price of being covered is growing at an incredible rate. Being a student and a parent of a government worker, I am fortunate enough to have good coverage. But what about those people who arent under the unbrella? Thousands of deaths happen each year from this issue alone and it is only getting worse. We must remember that the key to life is being healthy so we have to stick together and stretch that unbrella to cover the entire world.
Poor Gardeners...They must have skipped college and followed their dreams of being worldclass landscapers. Well, for the other people who are going to school, lets leave these jobs behind. Forget about Homedepot and McDonalds, there will plenty of people to fill in those jobs. For us here at Stony Brook, lets not end up like these 2 sad people. Lets leave these pink colar jobs and enter the world of professionalism. It a wonderful place full of opportunity and happiness and the chance to make your dreams come true! Lets get rid of student debt and show America that we can handle responsibility. Lets prove them all wrong.
Wait...Dont Jump!!!The rate of suicide in America has been growing at a scary rate. People who cant support their families are feeling more pressure than ever and choosing death over life. Students who are overloaded with work and have the stress of a relationship on their back are feeling the pressure too. Its a tough subject to debate but just stay calm and remember, problems are temporary and death is permanent.
It seems that these days, the "unbrella" of health care is getting smaller and smaller. Not only are fewer people getting good health care, the price of being covered is growing at an incredible rate. Being a student and a parent of a government worker, I am fortunate enough to have good coverage. But what about those people who arent under the unbrella? Thousands of deaths happen each year from this issue alone and it is only getting worse. We must remember that the key to life is being healthy so we have to stick together and stretch that unbrella to cover the entire world.
Poor Gardeners...They must have skipped college and followed their dreams of being worldclass landscapers. Well, for the other people who are going to school, lets leave these jobs behind. Forget about Homedepot and McDonalds, there will plenty of people to fill in those jobs. For us here at Stony Brook, lets not end up like these 2 sad people. Lets leave these pink colar jobs and enter the world of professionalism. It a wonderful place full of opportunity and happiness and the chance to make your dreams come true! Lets get rid of student debt and show America that we can handle responsibility. Lets prove them all wrong.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Committing Suicide for the Sake of an A
As I laid on the ground, with my body contorted from my leap into death, the light from my eyes started to dim as I breathed my last breath. Well, that is, until I was told to get up again. After re-creating a suicide from the railings I got up and dusted myself off, as my group finished the last of the re-creations. As we were walking I thought to myself how humorous it was that I "committed suicide" (twice!) for the sake of an A. However that soon changed as I realized something. I realized that there are students who have done that.. who have committed suicide, not for the sake of an A, mind you, but because they couldn't get that A.
Suicide has been a big issue fairly recently with it's ties with gay bullying and harassment, especially after what happened to Tyler Clementi the Rutger's freshman who jumped off the George Washington bridge. However before that I remembered as a senior in high school how in discussing the various colleges, suicide was a topic brought up. It became hard to ignore it when news broke of the Cornell students who jumped to their death and the fences subsequently put up to prevent anymore possible jumpers. It was also hard to ignore the death of Cameron Dabaghi, the junior from Yale who ended his life by jumping off the Empire State Building.
With each of these suicides I recalled how it made me worried about college, however it only lasted for a little bit as I realized I would be fine. Now after a year of being in college I've noticed how easy it is to become stressed out, especially in trying to get and/or maintain a 4.0 GPA. Not only that but, the idea of chasing after perfection, the pressure that one can get only multiplies when you're the first in the family to ever go to college, or the one the family designates as the savior and the one that cannot screw up or you'll be disowned. With that kind of pressure one can see why suicide may seem like a viable option.
However, with all that being said suicide is really only a permanent solution to a temporary problem. To be honest one shouldn’t have to kill oneself for not being able to have perfection, I mean it’s unattainable and really, who in the world is perfect? Also one needs to remember that there are a lot of people who have gone to do great things, brilliant people really, and you know what? A bunch of them are college dropouts or in some rare cases never went to college at all. If that is so then why should students be killing themselves over a course like, I don’t know underwater basket weaving (?), when they don’t need it?
The idea of failure, it’s what leads to some students committing suicide, because they’re “failures”. Well, if you feel that you are a failure then own it! Admit it, and then learn from it. We learn from our mistakes and from the ashes we’ll rise and be reborn as a phoenix. Anyway suicide, as tragic as it may be, we have to carry on to tomorrow and do everything to the best of our ability, even if it means that we cannot attain that A. All anyone can do is do their best and if that means that your best is a B-, then what more can anyone ask for? Don’t strive for something for the sake of pleasing someone else, do it because you want to. After all why commit suicide for the sake of an A when you have so much more you can achieve that has more meaning than an A will ever have?
Suicide has been a big issue fairly recently with it's ties with gay bullying and harassment, especially after what happened to Tyler Clementi the Rutger's freshman who jumped off the George Washington bridge. However before that I remembered as a senior in high school how in discussing the various colleges, suicide was a topic brought up. It became hard to ignore it when news broke of the Cornell students who jumped to their death and the fences subsequently put up to prevent anymore possible jumpers. It was also hard to ignore the death of Cameron Dabaghi, the junior from Yale who ended his life by jumping off the Empire State Building.
With each of these suicides I recalled how it made me worried about college, however it only lasted for a little bit as I realized I would be fine. Now after a year of being in college I've noticed how easy it is to become stressed out, especially in trying to get and/or maintain a 4.0 GPA. Not only that but, the idea of chasing after perfection, the pressure that one can get only multiplies when you're the first in the family to ever go to college, or the one the family designates as the savior and the one that cannot screw up or you'll be disowned. With that kind of pressure one can see why suicide may seem like a viable option.
However, with all that being said suicide is really only a permanent solution to a temporary problem. To be honest one shouldn’t have to kill oneself for not being able to have perfection, I mean it’s unattainable and really, who in the world is perfect? Also one needs to remember that there are a lot of people who have gone to do great things, brilliant people really, and you know what? A bunch of them are college dropouts or in some rare cases never went to college at all. If that is so then why should students be killing themselves over a course like, I don’t know underwater basket weaving (?), when they don’t need it?
The idea of failure, it’s what leads to some students committing suicide, because they’re “failures”. Well, if you feel that you are a failure then own it! Admit it, and then learn from it. We learn from our mistakes and from the ashes we’ll rise and be reborn as a phoenix. Anyway suicide, as tragic as it may be, we have to carry on to tomorrow and do everything to the best of our ability, even if it means that we cannot attain that A. All anyone can do is do their best and if that means that your best is a B-, then what more can anyone ask for? Don’t strive for something for the sake of pleasing someone else, do it because you want to. After all why commit suicide for the sake of an A when you have so much more you can achieve that has more meaning than an A will ever have?
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