Smithtown West Students "Insp;re" the Community

https://www.gofundme.com/5qjqe4g8

“Project Semicolon is a global, non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and love for those who are struggling with mental illness, suicide and more. Project Semicolon exists to encourage, love and inspire. Stay strong; love endlessly; change lives.” (Project Semicolon Mission Statement).

I, Nicole Sancilio, along with two of my close friends, Julia Peragallo and Tiffany Holtje, are leading a campaign called “Project Insp;re.”

Project Inspire is a public relations campaign at Smithtown High School West that embodies the ideas of Project Semicolon, which is based off of the idea that a semicolon is a place where the author could’ve ended the sentence, but chose not to. Everyone has had a “semicolon” at one point in their lives, no matter how small. Everyone has moved on from or overcome something. Everyone has continued their sentences.

As high school students and as people in the community, we recognize the prevalence of struggle in everyone’s everyday lives. We know what it is to be faced with an obstacle and have no choice but to overcome it. We have experienced academic and personal failure. We know how critical society is of people who attempt to outwardly share their stories to connect with their peers. We’ve seen people be labeled “attention-seekers” and “fakes” for being open.

We want to be part of changing the negative stigmas surrounding past personal struggles. They are not signs of weakness, as many might believe. Overcoming anything in your life, whether it’s a bad grade on a test or performing poorly in a job interview, is a sign of strength and empowerment.

To promote these ideas of empowerment and positivity, we designed and implemented various events within and outside of our school. For example, we visited and did an inspirational activity with the Life Skills classes in our school, which focus on teaching special needs students the skills they will need to become more independent. For the activity, we had them color in a page of what makes them happy, reinforcing the idea of positivity. We also held a workshop after school where a helpline professional came in to talk to students about the value of self-worth and the various ways in which they can seek out help, whether it is professional help or just someone to talk to. Most notably, we had students in English classes at West write sentences on colorful slips of paper using a semicolon describing a struggle that they’ve overcome in their lives. With these slips, we constructed a large paper chain that is now on permanent display in the lobby of our school, symbolizing the unity, strength and continuity that Project Insp;re aims to promote.

Our campaign is ongoing through our GoFundMe page (link at top of article), continued bracelet sales, social media usage (@shsw_inspire on Twitter) and contacts with members of the community.

We know we can’t change every person’s attitude, and even if we could, it won’t happen overnight. What fuels us is the strong belief that our positive efforts will yield positive results not only for us, but for everyone who needs them.