The reality of this world has entered into our safe haven. The pressure has poisoned us; the stress has ruined us.

In the past half-year we have had 4 suicides in my county alone.  2 occurred at the same school, during the same week.  1 occurred shortly after.  The most recent occurred exactly 7 days ago.

I live in the second wealthiest county in the country, where the competition to rise above everyone is fierce.  Whether it’s academically, athletically, or socially, there is a constant demand to simply be better than everyone else.  Nothing is about truly learning or participating in activities simply out of enjoyment.  Our motives have been twisted due to the constant pressure to make ourselves appear better.  We are told that, “If you’re not first, you’re last”.  We are trained to thirst for inner excellence, pushing ourselves to greater limits than we can handle. We are told that our grades define us, that our GPA measures our intelligence.  We have grown up in a generation where society sets the standard for who is beautiful and who is not.  We compare ourselves to the girl who appears to have her whole life perfectly put together, but we fail to see what lays beyond her Instagram pictures and tweets. 

We are fighting a war against ourselves, but what happens if we lose?