By Julianne Miller
Copy Editor
It is known around the country that National Self-Harm Awareness Day is March 1; What most people fail to address, or just may not be aware of, is that an event known as the “416 Project”, or the “Semicolon Project” is April 16.
The Semicolon Project tries to acquire personal, obvious support for anyone who is dealing with self-harm, depression, being suicidal, anxiety, going through a broken heart or the loss of a loved one, with focal points being self-harm, depression and suicide.
“I saw this project in my Facebook newsfeed and thought it was brilliant,” Taylor Swift said in a forum on her website, “I just want to say that you are all beautiful and wonderful and don’t ever change. If things aren’t going well for you right now, don’t worry. They will get better.”
What makes National Self-Harm Awareness Day and the 416 Project different is how the community shows their support. For Self-Harm Awareness Day, people wear orange in ribbon or clothing. The 416 Project calls for anyone who is struggling or anyone who wants to support those who are, to draw a semicolon on their wrist.
“I think that the Semicolon Project is a fantastic way to raise awareness and support. I think it will help people find other people to talk to about things with and show people that they’re not alone. Other people deal with things too, just like them. This is a great way to boost self-esteem and allow people to feel less alone and better about themselves, potentially helping them with what they’re going through. It’s a beautiful project and piece of punctuation that could allow someone to end the sentence but they chose to keep it going,” sophomore Heather Carnivale said.
An author uses a semicolon where he could have ended a sentence, but didn’t. The semicolon symbolizes the lives of the individuals struggling.
“This project brings people together. It shows that no matter how different you think you are from someone else, you may actually have a something in common with each other.” Veronyca Rodriguez said.
Don’t give up, stay strong, and keep your sentence going.
