College Students Bike 4,500 Miles to Break Silence on Suicide
Be alive, says a group of five college students biking 4,500 miles on bikes to raise awareness about one of the leading causes of death for young Americans – suicide.
Students from Baylor University, a Baptist institution in Waco, Texas, are on day 35 of their nearly three-month trip from the university to Anchorage, Ala. They've ridden through the Golden Gate Bridge and are currently heading to West Port, Calif., Wednesday, according to their planned schedule.
"As we ride along the road we just look at the vastness of the ocean and feel truly alive," the team of five bicyclists wrote in their daily blog Tuesday. "The air is fresh here and the smell of the pine trees and the sound of the waves crashing along side the rocks make biking an enjoyable experience. This is the best part of the trip thus far."
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But they're not in it for the scenic views.
They're traveling with one mission: suicide prevention.
Last November, their best friend told the group of his attempt to suffocate himself the night before. The shocking disclosure prompted Kyle Ferguson, Alyson Erikson, Justin Brown, Nathan Lloyd, and Andi Nakasone to joke about ways to live their dreams or live life to its fullest. Brown mentioned biking across the country but what he had put out there was taken seriously by his friends. They decided to set up an account on the popular social network Facebook and pledged that if it gained 250,000 members, they would bike from Waco to the furthest point in the country, which they identified as Anchorage.
In 10 days, they reached 250,000 members.
"I was sitting there [thinking] we don't even have bikes!" Brown said at a Waco event in February as he recalled the surprising popularity of the Alive Campaign Facebook account.
Alive Campaign was born to promote awareness for suicide prevention and depression. The campaign also serves to start up discussions and create a community around the "taboo" subject of suicide – the third leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-old Americans.
"We are the richest country in the world, but we sit alone at night wanting something more. We are lonely with our riches, following the American Dream," the team realized.
The group makes it clear that they are a "positive and proactive" group and encourages Americans, "Your life is a story and everyday is a chapter, you just got to keep writing."
"Our friend told us that he had nothing to live for, so we gave him something to live for. Sometimes that means grabbing a bike and going to Alaska. So keep us in your prayers, and be ALIVE," they stated.
Now on an 83-day biking trip, which kicked off on May 15, the riders are gaining media attention and have received thousands of encouraging notes from people across the country – all of which began to rescue a friend from thoughts of suicide.
"We have pledged to bicycle from the heart of Waco, Texas, to the heart of Anchorage, Alaska, to prove once and for all that life is what you make it," according to the Alive Campaign's MySpace page.
On the Web: www.alivecampaign.org
