Stacie Leap, Jeff Snair, Frank Dietrich and Sterling Johnson came out on Thursday to speak to our class. Their topic of discussion was mental illness and addiction. It was quite moving to hear the speakers that came out and spoke to our class. Each and everyone one of them had something unique about them that made their story special.

We talked about how mental illness and the relationship it plays with mass shootings. The media will misrepresent mental illness and claim that any suspect in a shooting has mental deficiencies. This is not always true. The speakers explained that the percentage of people with mental illness who are violent is way less than the percentage of the general population with mental illness.

Overall this experience was one of the best to date. I have an Uncle with mental illness and he has been swept under the mat over the years. Something definitely needs to change to help more people.