Sound Off
by Murray Melton
In an attempt to become the next great editorialist of our time, I wanted to wow my audience by tackling the issue of the physical assault that happened on campus the first week. However, after a few weeks of classes, I have found through everyday activity that there is a more prevalent subject to discuss, and one that is more personal to me than previously known by anyone on campus.
To give you some background on what I am going to discuss, in 1997 I graduated high school in a small rural Illinois town. The school, with barely 120 students, was small enough that everyone knew who you were and what your business was.
I was in track, and the Friday before graduation, as I drove out of town to go to sectionals, I passed an incredibly close friend walking along the road. It would be the last time I ever saw him alive. He was involved in an automobile accident that took his life, at the sparse age of 17.
The funeral was held the following Monday, and my world was turned upside down. The school let the seniors out of finals, and a week after the accident, we had a very emotional graduation ceremony.
That summer, I fell into a deep depression that I still have some problems with nowadays. No matter what anyone tried, I could not bring myself to come to grips with his death. I thought everyday about my own mortality, and I never thought I would get better.
After some time, around six months, while I was attending classes at the local community college, I had to write a tragic story for my creative writing class. I chose to write about my friend’s death, and it helped me come to terms better than the psychologist I was seeing twice a week.
Now, eight years later, I am a different person. At the ripe age of 26, I have a wife and a child on the way. I have a new set of problems to deal with being a Blackburn student, and I admit, sometimes when I am up at 3am, working on homework for the next day or just not being able to sleep, I find myself discussing in my head all that burdens me. I also admit that I do get depressed; sometimes it overwhelms me to the point where I stare at the wall for a little while. Yet in the end, when I calm down and start to sort things out, the incident becomes a beat-session where I straighten out my mind and work through my problems.
So this I give to you readers, the advice that helped me through it all. Any troubles that you have, do not bottle them up inside, it will just make it worse. Coming from experience, listen when I say that it helps to talk to people with similar experiences. I am more than willing to talk to anyone that has a problem.
I am always at school, and even though I live off campus, if you can’t find me in a classroom or at the snack bar, ask anyone who knows me and they will be able to let me know that someone is looking for me. I will also have my phone number available through the newspaper, so anyone can call. And, I can be reached by email discreetly at meltonm@frontiernet.net at any time, day or night.
This is my second chance at a new life coming to school at Blackburn. I understand a lot of things associated with growing into an adult. I also know the pressures. At a small college such as this is, I am giving my warrant that if anyone needs it, I will always have a shoulder for them to cry on if needed, and also an ear to listen with and a voice to help however I can. My life is an open book, just look inside the cover.
|