Sophie Dring, a high school senior in Twin Falls, has created a suicide prevention group called Choose2Stay. Dring stated that her goals in creating Choose2Stay were to save lives, to spread hope, and to support our community.
Dring has previously lost a close friend to suicide. “It hurt so much. It just really changed me as a person and how I look at life, and how I look at other people’s lives, and how much words really do matter,” she said about this loss.
“I wanted to do something to both remember [the friend I lost] and to tell others that they are valued and loved and that they should be here—that they should choose to stay,” Dring said.
Dring said this tragedy was a traumatic experience for her, but that she found help. “I had to go to a hospital, a mental hospital, to get support and help from people for my own safety,” she said, “and so, I just wanted to make it known to other people that that resource is available for people in need like I was.”
“Something that really saved my life, actually, was the sticker on the back of a car that said ‘If you’re looking for a sign to stay alive, this is it,’” Dring recounted. She said that people going about their day, facing their own difficulties, can see signs, “both literally and metaphorically,” that “they should stay and that there is hope, and that there is support and people available.”
She said the group has held one event, a rally. It took place on September 20th at the five-points intersection in Twin Falls.
“I’d say what really encouraged me in the early stages of [organizing the rally] was thinking about what my friend who passed would want me to do, and thinking about what I want to do with my future and how I can help people and keep this terrible thing from happening again,” Dring explained.
While organizing the event, she spoke with her family, mental health professionals, officers, local news, and otherwise contacted as many people as possible. She found the community supportive and willing to show up for this cause.
“I’d like to make it clear that [Choose2Stay] is not about me. It’s not about Sophie. It’s really about everyone else in our community,” she said.
Dring believes that people need to know there is support available, and that “people need to see how important and worthy life is, and know that it’s worth living.” She emphasizes hope and believes that Choose2Stay has been able to help provide it for others.
“People literally got out of their cars, and came up to me crying in the parking lot, thanking me, saying that they needed this… and that it really just hit them in a good way,” said Dring, retelling a moment when she knew she was doing good through her efforts.
Dring looks forward to future rallies that she hopes will be even “bigger and better.” She is in the middle of a busy high school senior year and doesn’t yet know what the future will hold, but she has stated she wants to continue her work with Choose2Stay.
For more information, Choose2Stay provides updates through its Instagram profile, @ch00se_2_stay, and on its Facebook page, ChoosetoStay Groupp. Choose2Stay can be emailed at [email protected].
