“You are not alone” was the takeaway message from the Out of the Darkness Campus Walk at Sacramento State on April 16 from 5:30-8 p.m.

The fourth annual Out of the Darkness Campus Walk was an event started by the Active Minds club on campus and hosted along with the Student Health and Counseling Services and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. It is intended to spread awareness of suicide, reduce the stigma associated with mental health, encourage people to talk openly about the subject and compel those in need to reach out.

“Student Health and Counseling Services hopes that this event is supportive for the Sac State community, offers education and stigma reduction around suicide and provides resources to those in need,” said Katie Hodgson, case manager for SHCS. “SHCS would be thrilled if this event leaves students with a feeling of community and hope that something can be done to address the prevalence and impact of suicide.”

As reported by AFSP there are over 650,000 suicide attempts that require medical attention and about 38,000 lives are lost each year. Of these 38,000 lives, 1,100 of them are college students, suicide being the second leading cause of college student deaths.

For the past two years, Sac State’s walk has been one of the largest walks in the nation to raise awareness for suicide prevention. This year’s turnout was a success as well.

An estimated $7,000 was raised at the event, which will go directly to AFSP for research and programming related to suicide prevention.

During the week leading up to the walk, Active Minds had a table with information about resources and event details. They were present April 13-15 in the Library Quad, standing in front of neon green flags sticking out from the lawn, which represented the number of college suicides each year.

“One thousand one hundred college students die from suicide each year nationwide,” said Sac State senior Prysma Villasenor. “In past years, backpacks were placed on the lawn to symbolize the number of deaths, but this year neon flags took on this symbol.”

Students were able to offer a word of hope, or a name of someone in remembrance, to write on a flag and then personally place it amongst the others on the lawn. It was a way for students to connect and take part in spreading suicide awareness.

An ample amount of informational booths were part of the Mental Health Fair that took place on Thursday, April 16 from 2:30-5:30 p.m. The row of booths provided students with pamphlets of organizations to contact in specific situations, and also how to preventively diagnose symptoms.

Near the registration tables, beaded necklaces called “Honor Beads” were provided. Each color was symbolic of something. The gold represented the loss of a parent; red was the loss of a partner; white was the loss of a child; orange was the loss of a sibling; silver was the loss of a military person or first responder; purple was the loss of a relative or friend; green was if a student has struggled personally; blue was to support the cause and red, white and blue was to support veterans.

There were also handmade posters available for students to pick up and carry with them. Each had inspirational quotes on them or facts about depression and suicide. Students were also able to create their own personal posters as well.

One poster read: “Place your hand over your heart, can you feel it? That is called a purpose. You’re alive for a reason so don’t ever give up.”

Prior to the start of the walk, individual speakers stood up to share their experiences and struggles.

Kate Williams, an intern for Active Minds, shared her story about living with mental illness.

“The walks have had a tremendous impact on students and their loved ones,” said Kate Williams. “I have also had many students come to me and tell me that they themselves struggled with suicidal thoughts, and that although they were not ready to speak about it, they were so glad that someone was in order to shed light on such an important issue … Moments like that are exactly why a walk like this is needed and are also such a great motivation for me to keep speaking.”

While this was a public event, personal stories were shared.

Following the walk, there was a poetry reading and a candlelight vigil. Students held candles and closed their eyes for a moment of silence in honor of those lost.

Sharon Tucay, a member of Active Minds, stood before the crowd that was sitting down with their candles in their hands, and read her poem about her mother’s suicide attempt.

“I aim to encourage the rebuilding of relationships that have been destroyed by the negative perception of suicide,” Tucay said. “I hope to encourage people to not feel ashamed because of the stigma from mental illness. And I hope people feel encouraged to reach out and speak up and learn that they are not alone. My real purpose for this poem is to build the bond back between my family and start the conversation about mental health.

The main goal of the event was to shine light on a topic that is often hard to talk about because of the stigma attached to it. The event presented the topic in a way where it was connected to a personal story rather than just a statistic. By speakers sharing their stories, and talking about their own personal struggles with mental health, it created an opportunity for students to reflect and honestly look within themselves.

“It’s hard to get treatment when you’re younger because doctors assume it’s hormones and teenage angst,” said Sac State student Jordan Williams.

College is the time in a student’s life where they begin to come into their own, figuring out who they are and who they’re not. Sometimes it isn’t until students are living on their own, or until they are exposed to a mental health discussion, that they begin to reflect on who they are and what their struggles may be.

Students are entering into a very demanding, hectic and overwhelming time of the year as the end of the semester approaches. Students are finishing classes, seniors are getting ready to graduate, and stress begins to rise to an all-time high because of the overwhelming feeling of running out of time. It is important for students to know they are not alone.

Speaker Cameron Sykes explained how everyone attending the event came from different walks of life but were all standing together as one.