Article I wrote for the UML newspaper about To Write Love.

What do you say to a girl who uses self-injury to deal with being sexually assaulted? How can you help someone who is severely depressed and contemplating suicide? Where do you turn if you are addicted to drugs, and want to find a way out? If you are sick and tired of being sick and tired? These are tough questions. These are questions that scare a lot of us; we don’t know answers, because these are issues that aren’t talked about a lot. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be talked about. This is something we want to change.
Hello, My name is Kevin Pelletier and I am the president of the To Write Love On Her Arms chapter here at UML. To Write Love On Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and invest directly into treatment and recovery. This fall, To Write Love launched their first 15 college chapters across the US, and we are lucky enough to be one of them! By building community, Chapters can organize gatherings, cultivate awareness, and create a network that actively raises funds and reaches people with a message of hope and help for those who are hurting.
This is a place where it’s okay to come and talk about pain, about struggles, where you can ask the tough questions. This is a place for anybody, whether you are struggling with something, have struggled, know someone who is struggling and want to help, or just don’t understand these things and want to learn more. We will talk about these issues, we will learn about them, and we will learn how to help others and get help ourselves. The most important thing we will be doing is learning what a community is. We will learn about each other, and hopefully become great friends.
There will be discussions that can seem heavy or dark, however, this won’t be every meeting, or every conversation. We will be doing a range of activities. There will be concerts, meetings where we will just hang out and have fun, and movie nights. I hope that people who join this will leave with memories and friends that last a lifetime. I already know I will.
There are so many stigmas out there, especially in places like college campuses. We are one of the highest age groups for all of these issues. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for our age group (15-24). Ten percent of college students struggle with self-injury. Let’s change that. Let’s replace secrets and silence with community and hope. Let’s learn what it means to LOVE OUR FRIENDS, and what it feels like to LOVE OURSELVES enough to get the help we need in a time of pain. Let’s explore the idea that maybe YOUR STORY MATTERS, and that you might be part of a bigger story. You are not alone. Wake up. You’re alive. We’re on your side.
Search To Write Love UML on Facebook to find our group! Feel free to email Kevin_Pelletier@student.uml.edu or any of the other officers with any questions or comments. Our next meeting will be on Thursday November 5th at 5:00 in McGauvran 345.
Peace to you, Kevin