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Petition Letter: To whom it may concern:

The past few months have not been easy for me. For several months I bottled up emotions following my older brother's breakdown last year, as he was victim of an atrocious crime. This led to his hospitalization in December. That same week, I had a mental breakdown that triggered some pretty bad anxiety due to everything that was going on. Because of that, I missed 4 out of my 5 exams, including FREN 304 and FREN 388. Given the circumstances, two of my professors exempted me from their exams, and following an appointment with Ms. Cathy Touzel from the HCDS, I obtained a note that allowed me to retake the two French exams during the following term. I also saw my family doctor before the holidays to see what could be done to get me back on track.

After the holidays, going back into the school routine helped a bit as it changed my mind from all the past events. However, due to my mental state, I missed a few classes for the first two weeks of school. My mother, who lives in town, brought me to school 3 mornings a week as I was unable to motivate myself. I also touched base with my family doctor again during the second week of January to further discuss my progress throughout the holidays and find ways to cope with my anxiety.

As I worked on strategies to better manage my unstable mental state, things improved until reading week, though I was still struggling to hand in assignments on time. The pre-reading week rush was fairly stressful to handle, and the drop in workload the following week triggered my anxiety again as it reminded me of the December events. Therefore, I was not able to hand in an assignment for Dr. Bénard's class, FREN 417, for which I got an extension while I was struggling with my mental health. I then saw my family doctor on the 25th of February, during which he prescribed me a fairly strong medicine to deal with depression and anxiety, which can have strong side effects such as drowsiness and dizziness. Because of the side effects and my mind adjusting to the medication, I performed poorly on the geology midterm I had that week.

Throughout the term, I would ask for extensions in my DRAM 205 class so I could keep up with my other classes, as well as having my FREN 417 indefinite extension for my research project. With my mind adjusting to the new medication, I was able to make my way through the month of March despite my overall numbness, performing lower than usual due to my lack of focus. With the exams approaching and an external factor from my personal life that I did not foresee, I had a bad setback which resulted in increased side effects, preventing me from performing simple tasks. I did my best to keep up with my school work, but had to ask for more extensions for FREN 417 and FREN 496 essays on the 2nd week of April. I went back home to live with my mother and saw my family doctor for help to improve my situation before exams. He then increased my medication, as well as prescribing me other medication to help me sleep and relieve anxiety attacks - it was terrible timing, as my body did not have time adjusting to the side effects, resulting in my system rejecting any form of food. Because of constant nausea and an uncomfortable feeling in my mind, I was unable to attend my FREN 417 exam on April 13th.

I met my counselor at the HCDS the following day to obtain counselling for my current mental state. The same day, my mother brought me to Hotel Dieu's Emergency Department as my nausea persisted and I feared dehydration: I was then prescribed medication to help stabilize my stomach (that included Zofran, which is strong anti-nausea medication usually prescribed to chemotherapy patients). Though it helped me attend two of my exams on Thursday and Saturday, the new medication's side effects interfered with the medication I was prescribed and the side effects caught up to me, numbing my mind to the point I couldn't concentrate anymore. While attempting to study, I would read a sentence and forget it immediately. Therefore, I was also unable to attend my FREN 496 exam on April 21st, but my professor exempted me from the exam. I saw my family doctor again on April 22nd to discuss my mental state and get things adjusted again.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Patrick Gravel