Introduction
SURROUNDED by blank white walls, the smell of iodoform rushing to my head, the sound of nurses yelling in the distance, and I am alone with all my thoughts. How can I sleep knowing that you almost died? You have this random semicolon on your finger. You have been knocked out cold for 2 days already. I have never worried this much in my life but you survived, ANDyou fought your fight, and you made sure your semicolon was to never end. You wanted to set an example. You wanted the world to know the struggle. You wanted the world to change. You wanted the world to be at peace. You wanted us to be happy. You wanted a life without thought and judgement. I had made the decision to make this important to me. I had made the choice of making the semicolon a symbol in my life. I had chosen to do the hardest research of what it actually meant. I had chosen to open your life for my writing. And I did.
Abstract
A semicolon is one of the most misused punctuations in the English language but is the most used tattoo when dealing with depression and suicide. In this essay I will discuss how the semicolon had come to importance in my life. A story hard to tell yet easy to write, of a friend who tried to take her life and the semicolon was her symbol of peace. It is a way to show the world or keep hidden to yourself, that you are in charge of your life and you will make the decision to keep going. The story is in your hands and you have chosen to continue it. WITHINthe essay you will see how depression had affected a young girl’s life to a point where she did not have the mental strength to keep fighting for her life. The essay will discuss how her struggles were portrayed into my life and how hard it was for me to cope with her decision. A mix between her and my life will come together between the real-world research of what a tattoo is, how it has changed throughout the years, how depression and suicide in girls is higher than in boys, and how the rates of suicide have gone up since the 1990. The research mixed in with every feeling and emotion the why behind her attempt and the why behind my love for something so small and simple. The essay will show you how a semicolon can change someone’s life and also save their life.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1G6qaDuznGIY-V6xxQv7cHLdeXKxtFsG3r94drHL5HKM/edit?usp=sharing