It's not easy when a student you taught took his own life.

A question lingers persistently at the back of my mind: Could I have made a difference?

Of course I'm not so presumptuous to think that I had touched his life in a significant way. After all, I only teach him PW (co-teach actually) for four weeks, and the structure of the lesson was such that I had not much chance to build rapport with the class. I was just one of the many teachers he had, an indistinguishable outline among the crowd, thus there was no reason to imagine that he would have come to me for help.

Nevertheless the question continues to linger. Not just for any teacher who has taught him, but for anyone who has felt his presence, no matter how transient the acquiantance was.

Wednesday was a horrible day, when I walked into the class for the first time after the most unfortunate event. When Suzie broke down in front of her class, I could imagine how traumatic it was for her. It is one of the worst emotions that a teacher can feel: the sense of helplessness that one was not able to do something more for one's student.

Such an acute mind, so unusual from our students. Such confidence in the way he speaks, so different from his peers. Potential too vast to measure remain unrealized, dreams too numerous to count stay unfulfilled.

While I find it hard to understand why he did this, I do respect his decision and I can only hope that it was all for the best.

May you find solace and respite in the next journey.