Mourning at Clarkson, Reminder to Take a Breath
Content Warning: Suicide
Take a moment, and take a breath. Breathe in for three seconds, exhale for three, and repeat twice. Ground yourself in the moment and past the stress of the ending semester. These last weeks and days are easy to build into decades within your head, with deadlines mounting and the heat rising. But it will be okay. I promise.
On Wednesday, April 19th, Clarkson University shared that Stone F. Mercurio ’26, a Mechanical Engineering major from Rome, NY, had passed away. After a multi-agency search, Mercurio was found with self-inflicted wounds, and the St Lawrence County Sheriff’s office has begun an open investigation into the death. A first-year Mechanical Engineering student, Stone Mercurio hailed from Rome, NY and was a beloved campus member at Clarkson. In a press statement, Potsdam Police Lieutenant Michael Amex stated: “I just want to remind everyone that there is always someone there to listen to you. There’s always another step that can be taken and certainly our student community – we want to encourage them to use those resources available on campus,” said Potsdam Police Lieutenant Michael Ames.
With these next few days of stress and mourning, take care of yourself and those around you. If you are feeling especially overwhelmed as the end of the semester approaches: remember more people love you than you will ever know. Your families, friends, classmates, professors, strangers, and I would rather have an uncomfortable conversation with you than attend a service. The SLU 24/7 Crisis and Counseling helpline is available for all enrolled St. Lawrence University Students and will help you or a friend who is experiencing a mental health crisis and can be reached at 315-229-1914. If texting is more accessible, you can contact their 24/7 texting line at: 741-741. These lines of support are always waiting, and you will never be a burden for asking for help, it is simply another part of being a human.
As a print media, it’s easy to post call lines of support, something often glazed over by eyes in any of these stories. Use this story as a chance to breathe, a way to ground yourself from the stress of academics or sports, a space to remember how loved you are. If you are worried about the future, take a moment and lay out the big problems into smaller pillars. Take out a journal, list off the things you want to achieve, and remember the quote from Lee Lacocca: “Writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.”. Find solace in the little victories, and build them to bigger triumphs. Find what works best for you in working, reach out to friends for a group study, and don’t beat yourself up for lost time. There will always be more time than you think, despite what the world may seem.
Of course, don’t forget others around you. The best way for our campus to help each other is simply to extend the gift of human kindness to all around you. If you notice a friend in trouble, ask them about it. Take a potentially uncomfortable conversation and turn it into an extended helping hand. If you see a stranger drop their plate, help them pick it up. To help each other and yourself, build a longer table instead of a taller fence. We are in the last weeks of campus, and before the sprint starts: take a breath and hold the hand of the person next to you.