Amirah Ahmad

∷毅白 注

Little did I know that the boy I knew in middle school was depressed.Never did it occur to me that he had committed suicide. In fact, I hadn’t even realized Jack2. 此為化名。still attended my high school.

It all happened when I was sitting in biology class, talking with the group of friends that I usually spoke to. It was just minutes before class started when my friend sitting next to me asked if I knew what had happened last night. I said no. She then proceeded to take her phone out, pulled up her Facebook page,3. proceed: 繼續(xù)進(jìn)行，繼續(xù)做；pull up: 向上拉起，這里指打開(kāi)臉譜網(wǎng)主頁(yè)。and showed me Jack’s Facebook status. He had confessed to not only his Facebook friends but to the entire web world that on a summer night, he had stolen his brother’s car and crashed it against the side of a wall on the highway in an attempt to kill himself.4. crash: 使（車輛）撞壞；attempt:（通常指不成功的）嘗試。

The rest of biology class was a blur5. blur: 模糊不清。.

I hadn’t even comprehended Jack’s situation when I walked into journalism class where the students were buzzing with the latest gossip.6. comprehend: 理解，領(lǐng)會(huì)；buzz with: 嘰嘰喳喳地議論，熱切低聲地議論。In America, whatever is posted on Facebook is fair game7. fair game: 可以加以抨擊（或嘲笑）的對(duì)象。for everyone to talk about. What was today’s topic of discussion Jack, of course.

抑郁使人無(wú)精打采，對(duì)周圍的一切都沒(méi)有興趣，沉浸在各種負(fù)面情緒中無(wú)法自拔。抑郁癥患者常受到同學(xué)、親友和社會(huì)的誤解與歧視；而正是由于害怕受到輕視、冷落或斥責(zé)，他們也往往不愿意承認(rèn)自己患病。諱疾忌醫(yī)，無(wú)疑是雪上加霜。其實(shí)，只要一點(diǎn)寬容，一份溫暖，就能挽救一條生命。

As I sat at the head of the class, however, I felt a responsibility to ful fill. As Editor-in-Chief of my high school’s newspaper, I thought it was my duty to cover8. cover: 采訪，報(bào)道。what had happened. Even if I was not able to feature9. feature: 把……作為（報(bào)紙或雜志上的）主打文章，專題。Jack’s story, I could use this power to spread awareness of depression.

Like all exciting adventures of mine start, I began to write my article.I researched causes, symptoms10. symptom: 癥狀。, and treatment of depression. Yet despite such extensive11. extensive: 全面的，廣泛的。research, I realized I was missing something. I was missing real life stories. I needed to interview students who were suffering from depression, but I was afraid that finding them was going to be dif ficult. Surprisingly, it was not. In fact, numerous students were reaching out to me, apprehensive to share their story.12. reach out to sb.: 表示對(duì)某人感興趣，表示愿意接觸某人；apprehensive: 不安的，擔(dān)憂的。Although I was ecstatic I was getting vital sources that would make my story about depression noteworthy, the entire experience was bittersweet.13. ecstatic: 狂喜的，歡天喜地的；vital: 至關(guān)重要的，關(guān)鍵性的；noteworthy: 值得注意的，值得關(guān)注的；bittersweet:苦樂(lè)參半的。

The students who had suffered from depression reached out to me anonymously14. anonymously: 匿名地。, yet gave me in-depth answers. With their words, these girls and boys communicated to me the low self-esteem or the suicidal thoughts. Needless to say, that was all extremely sobering15. sobering: 令人嚴(yán)肅思考的，發(fā)人深省的。.

Before I had interviewed anyone, however, I spoke to Jack first.Because we hadn’t spoken to each other in nearly 5 years and the reason he was here was to discuss his failed suicide, the encounter was a bit awkward at first.16. encounter: 相見(jiàn)，相會(huì)；awkward: 令人窘迫的，令人局促不安的。However, in 5 minutes I had his trust. The desk he was sitting in was pressed up against mine, and the only things I had on the surface of mine were a piece of paper and a pencil. The air around was still, not even a breath was to be heard. Finally, I cut through the silence by asking my first question, “How did this all start?”

He told me everything. I felt like an open canvas, being painted on with the bleak feelings of a fellow student whose troubles I was completely incognizant of.17. 我感覺(jué)自己好似空白畫(huà)布，一位同齡伙伴的陰郁情緒為畫(huà)筆，著色其上。而我之前卻完全沒(méi)有意識(shí)到他的煩惱。incognizant:沒(méi)意識(shí)到的，沒(méi)覺(jué)察到的。He told me his depression began at the tender age of18. at the tender age of: 在少不更事的……年歲，在不諳世事的……歲時(shí)。12. His father was very reserved19. reserved: 拘謹(jǐn)?shù)模}默的。, and didn’t act like a normal dad. Even during gym class, Jack would feel odd running around. His self-esteem began to plummet20. plummet: 驟然跌落，大幅下滑。and the added stress with school did not help.

Once he got to high school,everything began to add up.He needed to raise his grades as well as his spirits, but he had hit rock bottom21. rock bottom: 最低點(diǎn)，最低限度。. One night in July, he told me, was when he finally gave up. He had been worrying about the potential stress from college applications in the fall. He slipped downstairs, grabbed the keys from the counter, ignited the engine, and sped off.22. slip: 悄悄地走，溜走；grab: 抓住，攫?。籧ounter:（廚房中的）長(zhǎng)臺(tái)面，長(zhǎng)桌子；ignite: 發(fā)動(dòng)（引擎）；speed off: 加速。He reached a local highway and was gaining speed, 80 mph, 90 mph, 100 mph.He finally jerked the steering wheel to the right and his life flashed before his eyes.23. jerk: 猛拉，猛推；steering wheel: 方向盤；flash: 閃爍，閃現(xiàn)。

At this point in the interview, I was numb24. numb: 麻木的，遲鈍的。. I was thinking of the other dozens of students at my school alone who had considered killing themselves, while simultaneously25. simultaneously: 同時(shí)發(fā)生地，同時(shí)存在地。thanking god that none of them had been successful.

After this interview, other students began to speak up. One student had hung a noose26. noose: 套索，繩套。on the ceiling of his bedroom. He slipped his neck through the hole and began to suffocate, only to unwind the noose as he began to think about the family he would let down.27. suffocate: 窒息，呼吸困難；unwind: 放松；let down: 使……失望，辜負(fù)……的期望。To this day, his parents do not know he attempted suicide.

Whilst writing this article, I was solemn.28. whilst: =while，當(dāng)……的時(shí)候；solemn: 冷峻的，嚴(yán)肅的。The stories I had learned and the feelings I had unwrapped29. unwrap: 打開(kāi)，解開(kāi)。from these students was too much. However, I knew this article was going to change lives.

Life in America is stressful. Balancing extracurricular and school work takes a toll on students’ psychological mental health, and balancing a successful career with a happy family strains the average American.30. 平衡課外活動(dòng)和日常學(xué)業(yè)所帶來(lái)的壓力會(huì)對(duì)學(xué)生的心理健康產(chǎn)生負(fù)面影響，而平衡事業(yè)成功和家庭幸福所帶來(lái)的壓力則會(huì)使一般美國(guó)人不堪重負(fù)。take a toll: 產(chǎn)生負(fù)面影響，造成損失；psychological:心理的，精神的；strain: 使……不堪承受，使……緊張。For peers31. peer: 同輩，同齡人。who witness their friends suffering from depression, it’s easy for us to encourage them to focus on the good things in their lives. Yet with such blaring problems like a failing job or even failing grades, there seems to be no silver lining.32. blaring: 耀眼的，刺眼的；silver lining: （不幸或失望中的）一線希望。

This is why we must do more. Simply cheering them up with a plate of cookies or helping a close friend financially are just two ways a person can help. The most important thing an individual can do, however, is to make everyone around them feel loved. Appreciation33. appreciation: 感激，感謝。is the key to making someone feel better. Everyone needs to be aware of his or her self worth. This self worth and love is what prevents many suicides. Jack said that he had felt guilty when he crashed his car, only because his mother had supported him through his journey and would have been devastated to find out that what she had done was not suf ficient for her son.34. devastated: 極為悲痛的，極為震驚的；suf ficient: 足夠的，充足的。A mother’s love, a friend’s admiration, and a peer’s jolly35. jolly: 快活的，高興的。spirit can be the one thing that saves a life.

Save a life.