Some people are great at hiding their pain. I never knew Minh had issues until she decided to let it all out one day. Minh was one of fifty students I worked with through an afterschool program. She was an A/B student that many students looked up to in the program. Even though Minh was just a sophomore, her resume was filled with leadership roles she had taken on in school and the community. I had no reason to believe that Minh was depressed.
During my senior year of high school I volunteered with the Samaritans hotline in Boston, which was a call center for people struggling with emotional issues. It was a great experience for me. Through Samaritans, I learned what it meant to be a listener. Before the volunteers were allowed to take calls, they went through an extensive training on how to listen. I thought this was strange since I figured most people do that naturally, but I learned a lot about myself and others during the training. As a matter of fact, I almost got sent home during a session for being insensitive.
While the trainer told a story about a man who called in regularly because he suspected that the government was spraying homosexual gas under his door, I burst out laughing. As a matter of fact, I was in tears. The trainer allowed me to leave the room to regain my composure. Upon returning, I learned that the volunteer who patiently listened to this bogus claim saved the caller's life. The man who called the hotline admitted that he was strongly considering harming himself because he couldn't bare the stigma of having homosexual desires. I learned an important lesson that evening and was grateful that I wasn't dismissed from the training...
Minh looked rough on one particular evening. It looked like she hadn't slept in awhile. I was ready to go home since it was late, but Minh needed me in that moment. She told me that some "things" were going on at home, but wouldn't elaborate. As I continued to prod Minh, she asked if I could keep a secret. I told her that it was based on what she had to say.
Minh confided to me that she tried to kill herself the night before with a razor. She said the only thing that saved her life was the fact that she was "too chicken to do it."
You just never know whose life you are going to impact, whether by lending an ear or a shoulder to cry on. I experienced this to some degree on World Smile Day at my school. I volunteered to pass out smiles. One man thanked me because he needed a smile since he had been going through a tough divorce. A student felt left out when someone else passed out smiles in her class but didn't give her one. Then there was a woman who dragged her very reluctant husband to my classroom so that I could give him a smile. I made him smile for me first after I gave him the "You never know whose day you are going to make just because you smiled at them." speech. They left the room smiling and laughing & for the rest of the semester whenever our paths crossed, each of them would smile at me. You just never know.
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