Project Semicolon is a non-profit organization that works towards preventing suicide. Their belief is that suicide is preventable and everyone can help those with suicidal thoughts. By raising public awareness, educating communities, and equipping every person with the right tools, they hope that they can prevent people from inflicting self-harm.

“I think projects like this are a good idea because people need to be aware that this is a thing people go through,” junior Sydney Satori said. “People make depression seem like it’s not that big of a deal, but projects like this show people that we have to do something about it.”

Counselors at South have helped to raise mental health awareness by wearing their semicolon shirts. These shirts symbolize that instead of ending your story with a period, continue it with a semicolon. The counselors hope to start the conversation about mental health, and support students who have questions or simply need to talk.

“Mental health and suicide are something that the we don’t talk about, especially in mainstream media,” counselor Lindsay Burnell said. “It’s a symbol that promotes hope and we wanted to open the conversation so its easier for kids to start talking about these kinds of things.”

Depression is not permanent, it can be healed and people with depression can get better with the right attention and care — sometimes getting the right help is easier than a person thinks. People going through depression are not alone, despite a sense they may have that they are. If these individuals choose to believe in anything, it should be the symbolic semicolon.