Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 2548
Submitted: August 8, 2016 at 5:49:10 PM
First Name: Sinan
Last Name: Malik
Student Number: 10028329
Email: 1sm40@queensu.ca
Degree Program: Bachelor of Computing
Plan: Computing
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Waive the 21-day or one term deadline
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean of Arts and Science,
My name is Sinan Malik, and I am a student at Queens University. My student number is 10028329. I am writing to request the 21-day deadline be waived in light of extenuating personal circumstances.
After struggling throughout this past year with personal issues affecting my academic performance, I became extremely anxious and self-conscious about my failures at Queen's and what my position here should be. My anxiety was heightened due to personal issues which seriously crippled my ability to make good judgments and decisions that were in my best interest.
I have had a very hard time dealing with intense feelings of being a failure and being someone who was not worthy to succeed. I avoided looking at marks to assess my academic situation because I knew they was poor and I felt like there was nothing I could do once I finally saw them. I felt helpless, frustrated, and was cornered by my own anxieties into inaction.
Once I did find out I had been asked to withdraw for three years, I used this to feed into thoughts I was already having about being an academic failure and I thought that I did not deserve to succeed. In addition to not feeling deserving of success, receiving my letter outlining my requirement to withdraw caused me to spiral emotionally and make further self-destructive decisions, one of which was to delay confronting the reality of my academic situation
Over the summer, I have been speaking with my therapist (Dawn Godfrey) and she has helped me confront and sort out my true goals from my anxieties. In addition, I met with my family doctor and she has helped me manage my anxiety on a medical level. This has helped focus my mind back on what is important to me, which is my success at Queen's. I am determined to do whatever it takes to succeed.
I know it is late in the summer, but I believe that I will be able to submit a successful appeal and would truly appreciate the opportunity to try. I'm hoping that the deadline will be waived so that I might have the chance to appeal the request to withdraw for three years.
Respectfully,
Sinan Malik
My name is Sinan Malik, and I am a student at Queens University. My student number is 10028329. I am writing to request the 21-day deadline be waived in light of extenuating personal circumstances.
After struggling throughout this past year with personal issues affecting my academic performance, I became extremely anxious and self-conscious about my failures at Queen's and what my position here should be. My anxiety was heightened due to personal issues which seriously crippled my ability to make good judgments and decisions that were in my best interest.
I have had a very hard time dealing with intense feelings of being a failure and being someone who was not worthy to succeed. I avoided looking at marks to assess my academic situation because I knew they was poor and I felt like there was nothing I could do once I finally saw them. I felt helpless, frustrated, and was cornered by my own anxieties into inaction.
Once I did find out I had been asked to withdraw for three years, I used this to feed into thoughts I was already having about being an academic failure and I thought that I did not deserve to succeed. In addition to not feeling deserving of success, receiving my letter outlining my requirement to withdraw caused me to spiral emotionally and make further self-destructive decisions, one of which was to delay confronting the reality of my academic situation
Over the summer, I have been speaking with my therapist (Dawn Godfrey) and she has helped me confront and sort out my true goals from my anxieties. In addition, I met with my family doctor and she has helped me manage my anxiety on a medical level. This has helped focus my mind back on what is important to me, which is my success at Queen's. I am determined to do whatever it takes to succeed.
I know it is late in the summer, but I believe that I will be able to submit a successful appeal and would truly appreciate the opportunity to try. I'm hoping that the deadline will be waived so that I might have the chance to appeal the request to withdraw for three years.
Respectfully,
Sinan Malik
Documentation
Professional Letter: Sinan Malik Letter from Therapist-0.pdf
Professional Letter Detail: Letter from Therapist
Decision Letters
Amendment to Appeal 2548
Relevant Petition: 2548
First Name: Sinan
Last Name: Malik
Student Number: 10028329
Email: 1sm40@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BA
Plan: Computing
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Waive the requirement to withdraw for a minimum of three years
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: After speaking with my therapist, my primary physician, friends, family, and the Gender Studies Faculty, I have decided that pursuing my bachelors in Gender Studies is the best way for me to reach my full potential at Queen's and succeed academically. I have always succeeded the most in humanities courses I have taken, and therefore this decision would be playing into my natural strengths. I want to pair my strong communication and interpersonal skills with my passion for trying to help people and believe this is the best way to accomplish that goal.
Over the past academic year, I have not experienced the type of academic success that I feel I proud of and I know that I am capable of much more. One of the largest obstacles to my success is the fact that I have allowed my anxiety to freeze me into inaction. One example of this is that when doing classwork that I felt was very difficult or beyond the scope of what I had learned thus far, I was putting it off due to the fear or failure. I was very scared of failing and not being good enough or smart enough to produce anything of value. This self-destructive pattern of behaviour caused me to fall behind in my work and feel even more out of my depth when trying to catch up. Therefore, it felt like more and more of a monumental challenge to dig myself out of the hole I had created. My anxiety reaction then kicked in at these times and caused several anxiety episodes that led to physical symptoms, such as throwing up almost every day due to stress. My anxiety caused me to fixate on feelings of failure and shame, causing me to see even small setbacks as failures that were indicative of my not being worthy of success.
Since then, I have been trying to regulate my stress through use of medical strategies such as anti-anxiety medication. As well, I have been seeing my therapist (Dawn Godfrey) on a regular basis to discuss stress management techniques to both regulate my stress and work through it during episodes of anxiety. I have tried to plan out my academic future to reduce the chances I will feel overwhelmed by the situation. I know now that I deserve to be successful, and I know that I can be successful given the right supports. I realize that this is my second appeal, and I would not be writing it if I felt at all that Queen's was not the school for me, or that I would be more successful elsewhere. I do not take lightly the fact that this appeal process is an opportunity for me to communicate to you that I have a passion to learn and to succeed.
I feel I let myself down that I allowed my anxiety to affect my work so much. I want, more than anything, to make a successful return to Queen's so that I can show how I can succeed at what I have put my mind to. I know that, by having prepared a network of supports that are both professional and personal, I can return and succeed in a way that I have not been able to before. It has been difficult for me to admit to my weaknesses and try and reach out more, but I believe I have created a strong network of support that will help me focus myself on my studies. However, I also realize that the change cannot simply come from the outside. I have been practicing mediation and mindfulness techniques to calm myself when I feel that I am spiralling into an anxiety episode. I am trying to build new, healthy habits by engaging in these strategies and I believe they have had a positive effect on my overall outlook. These strategies allow me to feel in control of my decisions and thoughts, and I believe they will help me stabilize my emotions during stressful periods.
In the past, I have not had the right strategies for trying to deal with my anxiety. I allowed my anxiety to stop me from seeking the help I needed in order to manage it and seek solutions. I have begun to self-affirm that while I cannot change the decisions I made that have caused my situation to be so dire, I can succeed by using my support network to help me through the difficult times. My anxiety caused me to avoid taking advantage of the many supports I have in my life. I believe that my use of medical and therapeutic strategies that I have actively tried to make part of my lifestyle has made me more capable of facing these problems head-on. This has been difficult for me, as I once believed that I did not need any sort of medical strategy to manage my anxiety. However, I realize that it is one of many resources I can use in order to reduce my anxiety to a functional level and succeed academically at Queen's, and that there is no shame in admitting that one needs help.
With the help from my peers, therapist and family, as well as my own personal passion for the course content, I am confident that I will become a high achieving Gender Studies student.
Respectfully,
Sinan Malik
Over the past academic year, I have not experienced the type of academic success that I feel I proud of and I know that I am capable of much more. One of the largest obstacles to my success is the fact that I have allowed my anxiety to freeze me into inaction. One example of this is that when doing classwork that I felt was very difficult or beyond the scope of what I had learned thus far, I was putting it off due to the fear or failure. I was very scared of failing and not being good enough or smart enough to produce anything of value. This self-destructive pattern of behaviour caused me to fall behind in my work and feel even more out of my depth when trying to catch up. Therefore, it felt like more and more of a monumental challenge to dig myself out of the hole I had created. My anxiety reaction then kicked in at these times and caused several anxiety episodes that led to physical symptoms, such as throwing up almost every day due to stress. My anxiety caused me to fixate on feelings of failure and shame, causing me to see even small setbacks as failures that were indicative of my not being worthy of success.
Since then, I have been trying to regulate my stress through use of medical strategies such as anti-anxiety medication. As well, I have been seeing my therapist (Dawn Godfrey) on a regular basis to discuss stress management techniques to both regulate my stress and work through it during episodes of anxiety. I have tried to plan out my academic future to reduce the chances I will feel overwhelmed by the situation. I know now that I deserve to be successful, and I know that I can be successful given the right supports. I realize that this is my second appeal, and I would not be writing it if I felt at all that Queen's was not the school for me, or that I would be more successful elsewhere. I do not take lightly the fact that this appeal process is an opportunity for me to communicate to you that I have a passion to learn and to succeed.
I feel I let myself down that I allowed my anxiety to affect my work so much. I want, more than anything, to make a successful return to Queen's so that I can show how I can succeed at what I have put my mind to. I know that, by having prepared a network of supports that are both professional and personal, I can return and succeed in a way that I have not been able to before. It has been difficult for me to admit to my weaknesses and try and reach out more, but I believe I have created a strong network of support that will help me focus myself on my studies. However, I also realize that the change cannot simply come from the outside. I have been practicing mediation and mindfulness techniques to calm myself when I feel that I am spiralling into an anxiety episode. I am trying to build new, healthy habits by engaging in these strategies and I believe they have had a positive effect on my overall outlook. These strategies allow me to feel in control of my decisions and thoughts, and I believe they will help me stabilize my emotions during stressful periods.
In the past, I have not had the right strategies for trying to deal with my anxiety. I allowed my anxiety to stop me from seeking the help I needed in order to manage it and seek solutions. I have begun to self-affirm that while I cannot change the decisions I made that have caused my situation to be so dire, I can succeed by using my support network to help me through the difficult times. My anxiety caused me to avoid taking advantage of the many supports I have in my life. I believe that my use of medical and therapeutic strategies that I have actively tried to make part of my lifestyle has made me more capable of facing these problems head-on. This has been difficult for me, as I once believed that I did not need any sort of medical strategy to manage my anxiety. However, I realize that it is one of many resources I can use in order to reduce my anxiety to a functional level and succeed academically at Queen's, and that there is no shame in admitting that one needs help.
With the help from my peers, therapist and family, as well as my own personal passion for the course content, I am confident that I will become a high achieving Gender Studies student.
Respectfully,
Sinan Malik
Academic Plan
Academic Plan: 1. Course of Study
I have decided that in order to be successful at Queen's I cannot continue in the Computing program. I have always succeeded in courses focusing on social justice and contemporary social issues, and my passion for these topics exceeds the passion I have for Computing. I have switched my bachelors to one in Gender Studies, and have received approval from the Undergraduate Chair of Gender Studies to do so. I have already taken two of the required courses, GNDS 212 and 215, and will enroll in GNDS 120 and 125 to complete all the mandatory GNDS course requirements. I will also take a full course load of upper year gender studies courses to contribute to the 18.0 credits I need. I am especially interested in taking GNDS 315, GNDS 335, GNDS 330, GNDS 375, and the Undergraduate Assistant has offered to meet with me and help me enroll in upper year classes.
2. Full time versus Part Time Status
I have weighed the options of doing school part time vs full time with my therapist, my family doctor, and my family and friends and have decided that full time is what would work best for me. My struggles in the past had less to do with workload, and more to do with my own anxieties towards my expectations for success and the course content. Gender Studies classes always made me feel very good about my place at Queen's and particularly about my ability to succeed. I am confident that my passion for the course matter in Gender Studies will fuel my success and in turn lessen my anxiety about my school performance.
3. Strategies for Success
To help manage stress due to everyday schoolwork, I have been practicing meditation techniques to quiet my mind and control my body's reactions to stress. In the past, the reactions I have had to my mounting stress and anxiety have made it much more difficult to manage the situation that caused the stress in the first place. Through practicing mindfulness meditations and related techniques, my body's stress does not have as strong of an effect on my state of mind as it once did. I recognize first and foremost that I will not be successful returning to Queen's if I do not have a different approach in how I manage my day-to-day anxiety levels. As well, I have been trying to affirm to myself that no matter what, no obstacle can overwhelm my ability to adapt and succeed. I have worked very hard to establish a network of supports that I know will help me focus on my schoolwork and be the most successful student possible. I feel confident that with the help of both my support network and my newly developed anxiety management strategies, success is a certainty.
I have struggled a lot with feelings of not being good enough, not feeling like I am smart enough to be at Queen's and feeling very anxious about my school performance. The only times I didn't feel that way were when I was taking Gender Studies courses. I have been meeting with a therapist as often I as I can over the last 6 months and she helped me understand that I was pushing myself towards a degree that I wasn't finding fulfilling. My success was not a matter of just working harder at computing, but evaluating what I really wanted from my academic experience, and if I could even get that from the Computing program at Queen's. It seems so obvious now to pursue the degree that makes me happy and piques my passion and interest, not just a degree that I think I should be getting.
I have decided that in order to be successful at Queen's I cannot continue in the Computing program. I have always succeeded in courses focusing on social justice and contemporary social issues, and my passion for these topics exceeds the passion I have for Computing. I have switched my bachelors to one in Gender Studies, and have received approval from the Undergraduate Chair of Gender Studies to do so. I have already taken two of the required courses, GNDS 212 and 215, and will enroll in GNDS 120 and 125 to complete all the mandatory GNDS course requirements. I will also take a full course load of upper year gender studies courses to contribute to the 18.0 credits I need. I am especially interested in taking GNDS 315, GNDS 335, GNDS 330, GNDS 375, and the Undergraduate Assistant has offered to meet with me and help me enroll in upper year classes.
2. Full time versus Part Time Status
I have weighed the options of doing school part time vs full time with my therapist, my family doctor, and my family and friends and have decided that full time is what would work best for me. My struggles in the past had less to do with workload, and more to do with my own anxieties towards my expectations for success and the course content. Gender Studies classes always made me feel very good about my place at Queen's and particularly about my ability to succeed. I am confident that my passion for the course matter in Gender Studies will fuel my success and in turn lessen my anxiety about my school performance.
3. Strategies for Success
To help manage stress due to everyday schoolwork, I have been practicing meditation techniques to quiet my mind and control my body's reactions to stress. In the past, the reactions I have had to my mounting stress and anxiety have made it much more difficult to manage the situation that caused the stress in the first place. Through practicing mindfulness meditations and related techniques, my body's stress does not have as strong of an effect on my state of mind as it once did. I recognize first and foremost that I will not be successful returning to Queen's if I do not have a different approach in how I manage my day-to-day anxiety levels. As well, I have been trying to affirm to myself that no matter what, no obstacle can overwhelm my ability to adapt and succeed. I have worked very hard to establish a network of supports that I know will help me focus on my schoolwork and be the most successful student possible. I feel confident that with the help of both my support network and my newly developed anxiety management strategies, success is a certainty.
I have struggled a lot with feelings of not being good enough, not feeling like I am smart enough to be at Queen's and feeling very anxious about my school performance. The only times I didn't feel that way were when I was taking Gender Studies courses. I have been meeting with a therapist as often I as I can over the last 6 months and she helped me understand that I was pushing myself towards a degree that I wasn't finding fulfilling. My success was not a matter of just working harder at computing, but evaluating what I really wanted from my academic experience, and if I could even get that from the Computing program at Queen's. It seems so obvious now to pursue the degree that makes me happy and piques my passion and interest, not just a degree that I think I should be getting.
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: NO DOC
Document: Email from Gender Studies .pdf
Documentation Detail: Email correspondence with Gender Studies department