Graduation Speech: Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention

UN Secretary General, President of the General Assembly, and distinguished guests, today we are initiating a campaign called Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention. I am calling out to you because we are in need of your help. We want to stop suicide, and in order to do this, we are desperate for everyone to be involved. We are trying to mobilize as many individuals as possible to be fighters for change. And we are not here just to discuss the matter. We want to end it.
I was chosen as a representative for this campaign one year ago. And, the more I have been striving for the prevention of suicide, the more I realize how many people have attempted, thought about, or have been successful. If there is one thing I know certain, it is that suicide has to be stopped. I started recognizing the
Suicide is your issue too. Because to this day, I’ve heard of one individual being the cause of another’s suicide, despite that it may not be you, we can all try to lend a helping hand. I’ve seen women and men suffering from mental illnesses, unable to ask for help for the fear of trusting or drawing too much attention to themselves. In fact, in the US, suicide is the third leading cause of death between the ages 15-24. I’ve seen people that become so fragile and insecure by a distorted sense that they can’t get themselves to speak to anyone who could assist.
You might be thinking, “Who is this random girl, and what is she doing speaking at the UN?” And, it’s really a good question. I’ve been asking myself the same thing. In my nervousness to provide this speech, I told myself, “If I don’t help, who can? If I don’t try now, when?” I implore to you that we can all be advocates for change, and through Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention I invite you to help reshape someone’s life and then to ask yourself, “If I don’t help, who can? If I don’t try now, when?” Thank you all very, very