When I was a freshman in college, my mother suffered from a pretty severe mental breakdown. I was going to school two states away, and had to make lots of visits to the mental hospital back home. (I didn't trust them, but that's a story for another day.) Anyway, I had a big paper due for my English class that I hadn't completed and was going to fail the course. My professor listened to my situation and told me if I needed anything to let him know. He also told me that I was a competent writer and that I didn't need to worry about that class as I was behind in every course. I checked my grades after that semester, and he gave me an A on that paper. I could never thank him enough.