“I’m hopeless,” said Frostburg State University student
Shannon Brown as she read off of a note card at War Wounds II: Surviving Suicide
on Thursday May 1, 2014 in the Atkinson room of Lane Center. Shannon was sitting in the audience of the
event sponsored by SGA, NCNW, and Delta Sigma Theta when Andrienne Hill, the
host of the event, passed out a notecard with a self-deprecating phrase written
on it and a yellow ribbon for suicide prevention to each audience member during
the beginning of the event.
Many audience members at War Wounds: 2 chatted excitedly
with friends while other audience members looked over their notecards and the
paintings in front of the room. Three
paintings supporting suicide awareness hung on frames in front of the Atkinson
room, each painting displayed encouraging words such as “Don’t be afraid to ask
for help.” and “Your not alone.”
Audience members started to settle down for the start of the
event after they received their notecard and had their small yellow ribbon was
pinned to their shirt. Adrienne passed
around a microphone after all the notecards were passed out, so each audience member
could read their notecard aloud. Shannon
was the first audience member to read her card aloud and the other audience
members followed. Various audience members
read off phrases such as “I’m a failure,” I’m broke,” and “I want to kill
myself.” Adrienne said, “Every notecard represents someone’s situation and the
struggle that they went through.”
Adrienne proceeded to introduce Sophia Cooper, a Frostburg
State University student and the first of two speakers, so she could share her
story of surviving suicide attempts.
Sophia was dressed in a black skirt and a black suit jacket and said, “I
am better than no on and no one is better than me.“ Sophia tried to kill
herself at age nine by taking a Benadryl because she didn’t like herself and she
felt like no one loved her. Other
students in her grade school bullied her all the time in school to the point
that her mother would pay her to go to school.
Students would call Sophia names like “pork chop,” “ugly,” and
“fat.” She was also physically assaulted
in grade school when other students threw rocks at her and punched her until
she blacked out. When Sophia was 20 she
tried to kill herself again by taking a lot of Ibuprofen. After two failed attempts Sophia said, “I thought
failing to commit suicide was a sign from God that I was meant to live.” Sophia improved her life by ignoring negative
people in her life and getting the education she always wanted.
After Sophia spoke, Adrienne proceeded to introduce the
second speaker, Frostburg State University student Lite Brite. Lite was dressed in a pink shirt and jeans
and said, “I learned not to be so sensitive.”
Lite was very depressed and wanted to kill herself after being molested
at a young age. Lite tried to kill
herself with a meat cleaver for the first when she was 12 years old. Then Lite tried to kill herself when she was
17 by jumping off a bridge into the Potomac River. Lite said, “I realized I didn’t have what it
takes to kill myself.” Over time, Lite
became tired of being depressed and said, “She was able to trick her mind into
thinking happy thoughts.” Lite learned
to think two happy thoughts for every negative thought.
After Sophia and Lite spoke,
Adriene played a video of suicide attempt survivors sharing their stories. Several women shared their stories of mental
and physical abuse that pushed them to the brink of suicide. The women who spoke overcame many ordeals in
order to reach the positive place where they are today.
The stories shared during War
Wounds II were powerful and reached the audience. Speeches about surviving suicide managed to
inspire and unite audience members.
Click here for more information about War Wounds II.
Andrienne Hill speaking at War Wounds II
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