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I could not think of an appropriate title for this sad post.

This week my heart is breaking for a Georgia Southern freshman student and her family. She was found dead in her dorm room. She was 18 years old. The police reports have confirmed that it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound that killed her. So awful. So sad.

It is particularly striking to me that she died in this way. Typically women commit suicide through "less messy" ways such as overdose. Plus, there is very little chance of surviving a direct gunshot wound like that. Meaning, this was not just a desperate cry for help. She made a decision to end her life (or so it would seem. We don't know all the details. It could have been an accident, I suppose.).

I have no idea what she was going through. It could have been something truly, incomprehensibly terrible. It could have been a series of simple things that seemed like the end of the world to her. Who knows? Does it even matter? The fact is she felt that there was no other way out. And I hate that. I hate that there are people in the world who feel like this. I wish I could help solve their problems, or at least help them deal with them. I guess that's what makes counseling so appealing to me as a career path.

And freshman year is tough. I mean, it can really suck. My own first semester was mostly awful. I ended up at the doctor suffering from dehydration because I wasn't eating, was physically ill and not keeping down what little I did eat, and I was crying all the time. All because I was homesick and had broken up with my boyfriend. The transition is darn hard. My situation seems trivial, but it wasn't to me. Not at the time. And that's pretty common for students to feel these things and deal with these situations.

Something as small as a bad grade or a breakup can feel like the end of the world when you're also dealing with the stress of a new environment and lifestyle and perhaps a lack of support from your usual friends and family back home. I can only imagine how it would feel to have something even worse happen, like sexual assault.

Gosh, I just wish I could scoop up all those freshman and pour into them and tell them that even when it seems like your world is coming to an end, you have so much life ahead of you. And things can get better.

And I wish I could help parents and students realize that a 4-year University (or maybe even just this 4-year University) isn't always the best fit for everyone. Some students may need to stop wasting their time and money and pursue something that would be more fulfilling, whether that be a technical certification or going straight into the work field. Or maybe they just need to go somewhere closer to home while they get ready to balance all the emotional, intellectual, financial, and even logistical challenges of college. Don't get me wrong, I think Georgia Southern is a wonderful school. But it's not for everyone, nor is college in general. Kids feel a lot of pressure these days to get a Bachelor's. I see it all the time in the Career Center. Students are not doing well and hate school, they may even have a passion that they could achieve through a technical degree, but they won't change courses because they think this is what they're supposed to be doing.

Again, I have no idea what was going on with this particular student, but I see these different issues all the time. And it hurts my heart. All I can do is pray that God would provide a way for them to see there is more to life than the circumstances they are finding themselves in now. Please join me in praying for this particular student, and college students around the world.