JAY — Spruce Mountain High School (SMHS) junior Melanie Drake can sympathize with anyone who has ever felt depressed or felt like the world is against them.

As she took part in her Jobs for Maine’s Graduates class activities this year, she began thinking about the To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) foundation. According to its website, www.twloha.com, the non-profit movement is dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide.

“It touched me personally,” said Drake. “I’ve had a difficult past, so I know what this is all about.”

TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery. After considerable thought, Drake decided to apply the organization’s message at SMHS with a “Fears vs. Dreams” project.

“Everyone has a fear and a dream,” she pointed out.

The student response was impressive. Between 50 and 60 students posted, anonymously, what their fears and dreams were on sheets of paper that Drake presented to them with categories listed. They now line one of the walls of the hallway.

“What makes me really proud of doing this is they were serious about it,” said Drake. “I want to do this again next year.”

The project is spread over a two-month period, and ends April 15.

“We plan on doing another activity,” said Drake. “We want to do positive notes of encouragement and hang them up around the school for everyone to see.”

On the TWLOHA website, it mentions that untreated depression is the leading cause of suicide. In America alone, it’s estimated that 19 million people live with depression, and suicide is the third-leading cause of death among those 15-24 years old.

“It seemed we had stumbled into a bigger story, a conversation that needed to be had,” notes the website. “These are issues of humanity, problems of pain that affect millions of people around the world, regardless of age, race, gender, religious belief, orientation, and background.”