The Tragic End of a Beautiful Life

Although this experience I am about to recount is not affiliated with my pre-student teaching, I still felt like I should tell all of you about it.

Today, I walked into the school where I work as a Co-op tutor, hoping that a student would finally want to participate in lunch tutoring. I passed the main office and saw a large green poster with several pictures of a student on it. I thought to myself, "Hmm, what a weird place to put a picture. Why is it there?" I kept walking. Once I entered the room where I was supposed to be, I noticed a grim look on the face of the teacher to whom the room belonged. She said, "Did you hear what happened? A freshman committed suicide last night."

My heart skipped a beat and my jaw dropped. I immediately remebered the picture in the hallway. She told me who it was, and my fears were confirmed. During the drive home, I thought about how shocking it was and I shed a few tears. Although I've had little interaction with this particular student, I had her in a class with which I worked a couple of days per week.

I have no idea the circumstances that led to her suicide or what was going on in her mind. As a teacher-in-training, I know that I will have more experiences like this but it's not something I've really given much thought until now. I can't help but think, what could I have done to help her? What if I had flashed a few more smiles her way, or said "hey, how are you doing today?" on a regular basis? I know it's doubtful that these things would have helped, but you never know. She was such a beautiful girl with her entire future ahead of her and it breaks my heart to wonder what she was thinking.