Hundreds of Carleton University students gathered outside a residence building Monday to observe a moment of silence for a fellow student who committed suicide on campus over the weekend.
Friends of the victim identified him only as Jon, a 19-year-old second-year business student originally from Ajax, Ont. He was found dead Saturday in his residence room on the fourth floor of Prescott House.
"Nobody saw this coming," said Kyle Walton, a first-year law student and friend of Jon's who lives next door.
"I think for the first couple days, there was just a whole feeling of shock on the (residence) floor. I remember the night that everything happened, we were all just hysterical," he said. "There were tears, there was anger, there was frustration, confusion; I don't think much of us slept at all."
Walton said Jon was always cheery.
"Everyone just kind of fed off his happiness," Walton said. "He was the happiest guy on our floor, hands down."
Walton and others stood outside Prescott House on Monday at noon to observe a moment of silence for the teen. Inside, students left messages on the door of his room.
Counsellors were available at the school from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to help students grieve, said Rideau River Residence Association president Kaisha Thompson. The association also provided its own space as a place for students to sign cards and mourn together.
"Something like this, no matter when it happens, is always incredibly traumatic," Thompson said. "It's especially unfortunate because a lot of the students are in midterm season. The last week of February before reading week ... is a very stressful time for students. They have a lot of papers due, they have midterms, quizzes, reports, things like that. So they have a lot of academic stress and now they have a lot of personal stress, and trauma at this moment."
Walton said he doesn't believe any one thing — such as academic stress, for example — can be responsible for tragedies like this. He also said it's heartening to see people becoming more aware of mental health issues in recent years.
"It's not something we want to just be swept under the carpet, kind of hush hush," Walton said. "It's something that we should be talking about. It's something that we do need to learn from because it's going to keep happening. And if you sweep it under the carpet, you're just prolonging the inevitable until a tragedy like this happens again.
"You hear about this stuff happening. You hear about ... this happening at other schools, but it just doesn't make sense until it hits close to home."
In 2008, Carleton student Nadia Kajouji took her own life by jumping into the Rideau River. And in 2009, 19-year-old Michel Gariepy jumped to his death from a residence building at the University of Ottawa.
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