Ten year ago today, a man named Robert Lee Austen died here at Texas State. It is believed that he killed himself in a dorm. I am going to leave which dorm it was anonymous. You can't find his death on the internet anymore, so you will waste your time looking. I am writing this blog in honer of him. Specifically, I am writing this because no one respects his death here. Everyone makes fun of the incident as if he is some haunting ghost. I am here to open the eyes to those who think so blindly, and make sure they understand that Robert was a person, just like you and I. He had feelings and a life, and a purpose. His death should be a tragedy not a mo-chary.
Our class topic this year is mental health. The book we were asked to read illustrates for students how to cope with mental illness and also understanding those around us with mental illness. It feels as if no one actually read the book considering the unsympathetic way people treat those with mental illness. Robert Lee Austen maybe didn't have a mental illness, but he was sad. He didn't think he had a reason to live anymore, for whatever reason. Think of this situation as it was your best friend. That guy probably had a best friend who is devastated. I just wish that we could be more respectful of his death. Let his body, mind, and soul rest. I didn't know Robert Lee Austen. I have no idea who he was or what he's done. So more the reason to leave his "suicide," alone. I'm sad that he took his life, and I'm just the kind of person to mourn a stranger's death ten years later. I'll do it with respect, and kindness, and hope you do the same.
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