I've always been kind of alone in my life. I have a great family whom I'm thankful for, but I tend to keep to myself. As a result, I know what it feels like to be lonely. I have a lot of things going on especially outside of school and a lot that are very personal. This has opened my eyes. I go to school and everything seems fine, everyone seems fine. But then I started noticing things. None of us are fine. A few of my close friends admitted to me in confidence that they are struggling with depression and that they have thought about or even attempted to take their own lives. I was battling depression myself, and seeing how many people around me were experiencing the same thing verified that there was something very wrong. No one should feel that way. Everyone should feel comfortable especially in school. I can't even begin to express the toll all of this has put on my education. This school year I realized all of the jokes that are made about people who are different and regardless of the intentions, it hurts. People cannot think that things like that are OK. It just needs to end.