A guy I went to college with committed...

2:18 pm - Fri, Apr 8, 2011: 9 notes

A guy I went to college with committed suicide yesterday. I didn’t know him well, but most of my friends were also his friends or people who knew him. From what I’ve learned about him over the past four years and the few times I spoke with him personally, I’ve gathered that he was a nice guy who was tough to get along with at times. He was really involved in a lot of organizations and activities around our campus, but he had a lot of important positions in those groups, so I assumed that was the reason why he butted heads with a few of the people that he worked with.

I can sympathize with the fact that he felt alone since it’s not a remote concept to me and I’m pretty sure most people have experienced loneliness at some point in their lives. I would never look down on or fault anyone for feeling alone. My heart breaks for him because he was surrounded by so many people, and spent a great deal of effort being a part of so many different clubs and organizations, but he still felt alone and desperate enough to take his own life. What makes me even more sad, is that he’ll never know how many people really cared about him and his situation. All he had to do was reach out to someone, anyone, and he may still be here today, working through whatever he was struggling with and knowing that things always have an opportunity to get better.

So here’s the gist of what I’m trying to say with this post:

If you feel alone, sad, depressed, suicidal, or like you’re going to do something drastic to hurt yourself or someone else, please take the time to stop and get some help or talk to someone. I know it’s not always easy to ask for help, especially when you feel that much desperation, but I can assure you that no matter what, there is always someone out there that’s willing to listen to your problems and help you. If you’re one of those people and you’re reading this, my askbox is open and you are more than welcome to message me if you want to. There’s suicide helplines, web resources, school counselors, anyone. There are so many ways to get help. Just don’t take your life. You can find the friendship, love, acceptance, and support that you’re looking for, but you have to do just that; look for it. I can’t promise that it will be easy, but I can promise that it’s not impossible. This may sound corny, but life always has a funny way of getting better when you think there’s nothing left for it to offer you. Each new day is a new opportunity for things to get better, but you can’t see those opportunities if you end your life. Please, please, please seek help if you need and/or want it.

When I put this whole situation into perspective, I’ve finally learned that life is too short to be anything but nice, or at least cordial, with those around you, because you never know the hardships that someone is dealing with on the inside.

The only thing that I can do now is ponder the what-if’s of this scenario and pray that my former schoolmate’s soul has found the peace he so deeply sought after. May you rest in perfect peace, Kyle.