Leaky Buckets

  Somewhere near Banff, Alberta We were somewhere outside of Lethbridge, Alberta in a Ford Econoline van. There were eight of us, all grad students in architecture school on our way back from a fascinating conference on the future of computer-aided design at some fancy conference center in Banff. Someone got a text message that a student from one of the earlier years of school had committed suicide the previous night. I had been his Graphics teacher. The mood turned somber pretty quickly in the van.  You put eight graduate students in a van for long enough, conversations will emerge. And pretty soon, we were neck deep in an intense discussion of mental health. Some of my classmates bared their struggles with mental health and depression. I remember vividly because at the time I was twenty two and invincible. I had never experienced depression or self doubt. I had succeeded at everything that I tried and was overcome with wonder at the possibility of the world. I recall trying to convin