You & Me, Let's Help Each Other

My original slate post, I spoke about how suicide is one of the leading causes of death and how mental health is one of the biggest factors of it. I included not only a chart of the leading causes of death in each age group but also provides a video narrates the experience and recovery of a suicide victim. I go into depth about different types of therapy that may help those who are seeking help while also providing a link to other ways to help prevent suicide.

Since that post, I have continued to try to raise awareness for suicide by focusing on one of the leading factors, mental health. In my engineering class, I decided to create an infographic that states “Do’s and Don’ts of Comforting Someone” and it came out nicely! I researched on this website and also asked a few friends on this topic. I also have been spending time researching different hotlines to call when you are in need and made a poster providing all these hotlines. These hotlines were made to help people in need and those who do not have someone to go to so by spreading these hotlines, it will encourage people to use them. If people actually decide to call or text these hotlines, it can decrease the number of people committing and that is exactly what I hope for.

On the Left, the “Do’s and Don’ts of comforting someone”infographic and on the right is the different hotlines poster.

For my Agent of Change project, I decided to start a selfcare club. Originally I wanted to keep my ideas virtual but after getting suggestions from teachers, I finally decided to start a club at SLA with my sister. We needed to create a proposal to send to Mr Lehmann and Mr Spry but we also wanted to create an interest form for the SLA community to fill out. Fortunately, our proposal got approved so the You & Me Selfcare Club will be opening the school year of 2021-2022!! The process was very nerve wracking and confusing since I am still new to SLA’s community. I think starting this club will hopefully make the SLA community closer and provide a safe space for students to have someone to talk to. The pandemic has sort of ruined our freshman experience so starting next year, I hope this club can allow all of us to get to know more about each other.

Above is the club proposal that I sent to Mr Lehmann and Mr Spry (click on it to view the whole presentation).

I genuinely hope this club will help the SLA community in a positive way. I am excited and quite nervous about starting this club next year but I am happily doing it to provide others a trustworthy space. I learned many things about mental health and will still continue to do research on it. I also found out the SLA community and staff are very supportive and kind-hearted, so to that, I will be very excited to meet everyone! Suicide is still a huge problem but we are talking it a step at a time. I think we should all remember to check up on our friends and also do mental check in for ourselves too. We should continue to care for each other and recognize our emotions, thoughts, problems and more. We should try to understand each other and keep our community healthy while also having fun. I will continue to plan the self care club to make it as enjoyable and informational as possible for next year so can’t wait to make a positive influence at SLA.

Annotated Bibliography