Southeast Missouri State University's chapter of To Write Love on Her Arms and Student Activities Council will host a night with the founder of TWLOHA, Jamie Tworkowski, and Twilight movie star Julia Jones. Both speakers will discuss their experiences with the harsh realities that many TWLOHA supporters have seen or dealt with themselves.
"We work to carry out his [Tworkowski] mission all year round. He's an inspiration," senior Jaime Myler, the president of Southeast Missouri State University's TWLOHA chapter, said.
The story of how TWLOHA came to be has become an inspiration within itself and it all started with a story -- a story of heartbreak and the need for change.
For Tworkowski it was also the start of something life altering. At the time, 19-year-old Renee was struggling with a lethal batch of addictions, ranging from cocaine and pills to alcohol. More details about how Tworkowski met Renee will be explained in his lecture.
This five-day excursion, where Tworkowski and his friends gave Renee a clean place to stay and took her to rehab to rid herself of her addiction, helped to not only change Renee's life but the life of thousands of people every day. To Write Love on Her Arms was born through an essay written by Trworkowski baring the same title and subject -- Renee.
The non-profit organization was founded in March of 2006 and since then has become a staple in the minds of people suffering through a number of heartaches in life including depression, addiction, self-injury and thoughts of suicide.
Because the non-profit has become such an important influence for many people, TWLOHA has extended their outreach to college campuses everywhere through the university chapters program called UChapters. This program is designed with students in mind.
According to TWOLHA's website, it is estimated that more than 1,100 U.S. college students die by suicide each year and one in 12 have created a suicide plan.
"Not a lot of people like to talk about issues that have to do with mental health, but it is so important that you do talk about it," Myler said. "Suicide, depression, self-injury and addiction affect everybody."
The process of becoming an organization on campus through the official TWLOHA organization was detailed for Southeast's chapter. The first step was to attend a summer conference that detailed the issues that TWLOHA members deal with regularly along with learning how to lead a meeting each week and network with other student leaders.
The second step included an application that detailed why it was important for Southeast to have a chapter. The third step is to help establish how exactly the chapter will go about not only raising awareness but making sure the chapter has a clear future. An adviser from TWLOHA helps guide applicants through the process. The fourth and final step is to register through Southeast.
"I think this is very informational. They'll get a lot out of this," Student Activities Council Films and Lectures coordinator Tyler Rosemann said. "Maybe they have a friend, and this could help them recognize a problem."
The event will be held at 7 p.m. on Nov. 5 in Grauel's Rose Theater at Southeast. If a person is interested in joining Southeast's TWLOHA chapter, meetings are held from 8-9 p.m. every Tuesday in the UC Indian Room. For more information about the To Write Love on Her Arms foundation visit twloha.com.
