What does "assembly" mean to a high school student? Many at Arlington High School think of a long, monotonous lecture about staying in school or obeying school rules. But Andrea Razi, the social worker and intervention coordinator at AHS, organized an assembly for Health and Safety Day this fall that gave the word a strikingly fresh meaning.

Jordan Burnham, 20, delivered a gripping message to students and faculty members at AHS: His struggles with depression led to a suicide attempt two years ago -- a leap from a ninth-story bedroom. Miraculously, after he was in a coma for five days, he lived. He broke multiple bones, including his jaw. He couldn’t eat solid foods or speak for several months, but he held on to life. He still does.

Burnham's hospital stay lasted five months. He missed Senior Week at Upper Merion High School, outside Philadelphia. He was unable to play his favorite sports and had to go to the prom and graduation in a wheelchair. Today, Burnham walks with a cane.

He told the story of his adolescence in a comical way on Oct. 13, starting with experiences in high school with girls and friends, and then got more serious when he told the crowd of about 1,200 people that he became severely depressed.

Burnham described his depression as not just being sad all the time, as most people expect. Instead, he would think of the negative things that could come out of something being so positive and or exciting.

For example, during his presentation, he brought up how he imagined winning the lottery and how almost everyone would be ecstatic about it. Instead, his thoughts were about how taxes would take so much of the money from the prize, and he would focus on how much money he had spent buying the lottery tickets. Those thoughts took the excitement out of the whole thing.

In Burnham's definition, "depression is basically described as prolonged periods of sadness." The symptoms people often suffer from before acknowledging their depression are:

. Waking up sad for no reason

. Trouble sleeping

. Often find yourself saying, "what's the point?" to many things

. Differences in appetite

. Not wanting to be here anymore

. Being short-tempered

. Lying about even the smallest things

He also clarified that if anyone has one or two of these symptoms, it doesn't mean one is suffering from depression. Acting like that is part of human nature, he said.

Like many teenagers, Burnham described himself as shy during high school. He has been out of high school for two years, but can now speak in front of hundreds of people. Asked how, he said: "I became comfortable with speaking publicly about my story after I found out that people actually enjoyed the original article [what the press wrote about] on my story, related to it, and were touched by it. It made me look at my situation, not as a negative one, but simply a speed bump that would take some time to get over but once I did, I would get back to the path I wanted to in life."

He began speaking out, he told The Philadelphia Inquirer, which broke his story, because he wants young people to be honest with their feelings, even if they are suicidal. Burnham has delivered that heartfelt message to high schools audiences as well as to members of Congress.

His riveting talk at AHS recalled for some the shock felt in 2006 when AHS student Cam O'Connor died of a drug overdose.

After his presentation, students met in small advisory groups to have discussions about depression, making students feel they aren’t alone when they face problems and share similar issues with others.

After talking about the assembly, Melissa Ebersman, the early childhood education teacher at AHS, said, “I thought he was brave and very well aware of himself with a lot of self-acceptance. He was someone who anybody could look up to.”

Burnham said giving his speech to students is his full-time paying job, telling his personal life story about two or three times a week in different schools.

He said his main purpose in speaking to students in middle school through college is “to simply shift your paradigm on mental health. I want everyone in the audience, including teachers and counselors, to reevaluate how they view mental health in themselves and others.

"I am brutally honest with the realities of being a teenager. Every teenager, young adult, and adult has a rainy day; it's just where you can find the right umbrella for you. The main purpose of my presentation is to encourage students to find that umbrella whether it's talking, shopping, hanging out with friends, or just doing whatever makes you happy when you have that rainy day."

If any student feels depressed and has no one to talk to, he or she can talk to Ms. Razi in Room 307 anytime.

Jen O'Boyle, a senior, is in the AHS honors journalism class.