East Aurora class treks 16 miles for suicide prevention
It started like any gathering of high school students late at night with the laughing and gossiping and jokes among friends.
But an overnight walk completed by students from East Aurora and Wheaton North high schools soon took a turn for the serious.
It had to. Because this was a walk for suicide prevention awareness. A movement in memory of a former classmate. A journey in preparation for a speaker who will address the topic next week.
A fundraiser to bring Kevin Hines, author of "Cracked Not Broken: Surviving and Thriving after a Suicide Attempt," to speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 28, at East Aurora High, 500 Tomcat Lane.
Nothing funny there, and the East Aurora seniors who planned the walk as a project for their Survivor Literature class know it.
"We were with friends giggling around, but eventually we realized it was serious," East Aurora senior Cristian Hernandez said. "I was just thinking to myself, 'This is more than just a walk.'"
The walk was a culmination of a year studying what it takes to be a survivor by reading books about topics such as the Holocaust, Hurricane Katrina and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Teacher Shane Gillespie said this year's Survivor Literature students chose to focus a special project on what it takes to survive suicidal thoughts or actions when they realized such mental struggles affect many of their peers.
By chance, the class heard from the sister of one such peer, Yoshihiro "Yoshi" Soto, who took his life in October 2015 when he was a senior at Wheaton North.
Daianna Soto had taken Survivor Literature while she was at East Aurora before her family moved, and she hoped Gillespie's students could study mental illness and suicide prevention. She was gratified to find they already were.
The Wheaton North connection led the class to plan a "Here Comes the Sun" overnight walk from Yoshi's school back to their hometown, finishing with a sunrise ceremony at RiverEdge Park along the Fox River.
Sixteen members of the Soto family and about 40 Wheaton North students joined about 100 East Aurora students and their chaperons for a walk that was difficult to describe. It was lonely in some places along the Illinois Prairie Path and nearby streets, sparse and dark while crossing under Route 59 and I-88.
As the walk headed west, the group spread out into smaller packs over roughly a mile. Some walkers encountered deer. All developed aches and pains walking a distance that, for many, was the farthest they've completed at once.
"It really did get painful by the end of it - your knees start hurting, you're tired," Soto said. "It really did give you an idea, even though it was a lot of physical pain, you did need your mind to get you through it."
Once the walk ended about 5:40 a.m., the group waited for the sunrise as a symbol of hope. One student read a poem. Three others spoke on the birth of the project and its completion. Gillespie and Soto shared thoughts as well. The conclusion was bittersweet, Soto said, and Thursday will be, too, when the project truly wraps up with Hines' speech.
"This has helped me with my grieving. I don't know how I'm going to feel after it's over," Soto said. "It's something I've been focusing on, putting a lot of energy toward it and looked forward to it."
Continuing their reflections Monday in class, Gillespie said students had "insightful" things to say.
Some reflected on the choice they had in their journey. While students weren't forced to walk 16 miles in the dark, people with mental illnesses are forced to live with a disease they didn't choose. One student pondered the comfort and strength that came from the group all completing the walk together.
"When he thought of that he realized the symbolism we're working here is that a lot of people who suffer are suffering alone and how difficult that must be," Gillespie said.
Survivor Literature students have read about determination, learned about the private pain of mental illness and worked to bring some of those inner struggles to light. They've raised $13,859 to donate to suicide prevention and mental health awareness out of a $16,000 goal.
They've walked 16 miles at night when the farthest they'd gone at one time before was maybe three or four.
For Hernandez, it all has offered a small chance to try to understand someone else's pain and persevere through it.
"The light's always going to be there," he said. "You just have to find your way to it."
• If you or a loved one are in crisis, visit the nearest emergency room or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255 or visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
If You Go
What: Kevin Hines, author of "Cracked Not Broken: Surviving and Thriving after a Suicide Attempt"
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 28
Where: East Aurora High School auditorium, 500 Tomcat Lane, Aurora
Who: Hosted by Survivor Literature classes
Cost: Free
Info: To donate to class fundraiser, visit <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/outofthedarkness16">https://www.gofundme.com/outofthedarkness16</a>