Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 2775
Submitted: October 27, 2016 at 10:47:25 AM
First Name: Cecilia
Last Name: Hui
Student Number: 10042952
Email: cecilia.hui@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BSC
Plan: BIOL
Level of Study: 4
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Add a course after the academic deadline
Code: MATH 121
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2016
Petition Category: Add a course after the academic deadline
Instructor's Name: Troy Day
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: To: The Associate Dean (Studies)
I am appealing to be added into the MATH 121 (Fall 2016, Winter 2017).
The past 4 months have been very mentally and emotionally challenging as I have struggled to find a healthy way to cope with the loss of my great aunt who raised me, the separation of my parents, and my sense of failure for coming back to Queen's for a fifth undergraduate year. I didn¿¿t realise how the stress was building up until was unable to get out of bed, go to work and often felt physically sick. Coming from a very traditional Chinese family, seeking professional help was not an option and not something that I thought I was allowed to reach out to help for.
I returned to Kingston in late August to make sure that I would have enough time to get settled and feel a little better. My parents and I thought that if I was around friends and had schoolwork to keep me busy I would feel better. Ultimately it only made me feel worse to the point where the thought of leaving my room would make my chest tighten. My parents came to pick me up after being unable to reach me for a few days and insisted that I return to Toronto with them. Back in Toronto, every time I though about school or classes I would be unable to breathe. Coming from traditional Chinese values, we refused to believe that I could be suffering from a mental health issue, I tried a few weeks of herbal medication as my parents were told it was just an imbalance within me and the herbal soups would help.
In five weeks I was in Toronto, I only saw my parents, as it would be too hard to explain to family and friends why I was not in school. It wasn¿¿t until I saw my Aunt over thanksgiving, where she found out what was going on, and said I needed to return to Queen¿¿s and reach out to resources to help with my mental health. With her personal experience in that area she was able to have a more informed discussion with my parents and tried to take away some of the stigma associated with seeing a professional. We decided that it would be best to return to Queen¿¿s as the environment is more accepting and there are better resources available.
I returned to Kingston a few days after Thanksgiving weekend and have spent the past 2 weeks meeting with Professors in the other courses that I am in. I have been able to work with the professors of all those courses to create a plan to catch up. I have dropped a course in order to have a lighter course load and have stepped away from a few extracurricular activities in order to have more time to focus on graduating. I have met with Professor Day in MATH 121 and I have been catching up on the content until I am officially enrolled in the course. He has been supportive through the process in outlining where the class is and what problems to do; additionally he has expressed his support in creating a plan for catching up with assignments once should I be allowed to enrol in the course. In the mean time to help my mental health, my aunt and I have been researching and reaching out to different services on and off campus that we think would help me. With her personal experience, she has been a strong source of support and has taken over to be the liaison between my parents and I. That has relieved a lot of the stress that I was feeling and they have agreed to support me in any way needed. I am pleading that I can still be enrolled in MATH 121 as I need it to graduate and through the support of a professional and my family I am confident that I can graduate and complete my undergraduate degree.
Regards,
Cecilia Hui
I am appealing to be added into the MATH 121 (Fall 2016, Winter 2017).
The past 4 months have been very mentally and emotionally challenging as I have struggled to find a healthy way to cope with the loss of my great aunt who raised me, the separation of my parents, and my sense of failure for coming back to Queen's for a fifth undergraduate year. I didn¿¿t realise how the stress was building up until was unable to get out of bed, go to work and often felt physically sick. Coming from a very traditional Chinese family, seeking professional help was not an option and not something that I thought I was allowed to reach out to help for.
I returned to Kingston in late August to make sure that I would have enough time to get settled and feel a little better. My parents and I thought that if I was around friends and had schoolwork to keep me busy I would feel better. Ultimately it only made me feel worse to the point where the thought of leaving my room would make my chest tighten. My parents came to pick me up after being unable to reach me for a few days and insisted that I return to Toronto with them. Back in Toronto, every time I though about school or classes I would be unable to breathe. Coming from traditional Chinese values, we refused to believe that I could be suffering from a mental health issue, I tried a few weeks of herbal medication as my parents were told it was just an imbalance within me and the herbal soups would help.
In five weeks I was in Toronto, I only saw my parents, as it would be too hard to explain to family and friends why I was not in school. It wasn¿¿t until I saw my Aunt over thanksgiving, where she found out what was going on, and said I needed to return to Queen¿¿s and reach out to resources to help with my mental health. With her personal experience in that area she was able to have a more informed discussion with my parents and tried to take away some of the stigma associated with seeing a professional. We decided that it would be best to return to Queen¿¿s as the environment is more accepting and there are better resources available.
I returned to Kingston a few days after Thanksgiving weekend and have spent the past 2 weeks meeting with Professors in the other courses that I am in. I have been able to work with the professors of all those courses to create a plan to catch up. I have dropped a course in order to have a lighter course load and have stepped away from a few extracurricular activities in order to have more time to focus on graduating. I have met with Professor Day in MATH 121 and I have been catching up on the content until I am officially enrolled in the course. He has been supportive through the process in outlining where the class is and what problems to do; additionally he has expressed his support in creating a plan for catching up with assignments once should I be allowed to enrol in the course. In the mean time to help my mental health, my aunt and I have been researching and reaching out to different services on and off campus that we think would help me. With her personal experience, she has been a strong source of support and has taken over to be the liaison between my parents and I. That has relieved a lot of the stress that I was feeling and they have agreed to support me in any way needed. I am pleading that I can still be enrolled in MATH 121 as I need it to graduate and through the support of a professional and my family I am confident that I can graduate and complete my undergraduate degree.
Regards,
Cecilia Hui
Academic Plan
Academic Plan: Academic Plan
With the aim of graduating this year with a general Biology Degree, MATH 121 is the only requirement I am missing. This semester I have dropped a course in order to make sure I can keep up with everything and if let into MATH 121, I would only be in 4 courses. Additionally, I have chosen electives that I am interested in and I have taken a careful look at the workload of each of the courses in order to ensure that I can fully handle the work. In the past, a factor in my lack of success was my fear of asking for help from professors or TA¿¿s. If I didn¿¿t understand something I would be too scared to ask. I have really changed as I have met will all my professors and TA¿¿s not only to schedule due dates but have also reached out and gotten a lot of help for the material for the courses as well.
I have spent the past 2 weeks speaking with all of my professors. I am enrolled in LAW 201, ASTR 101 and ENSC 203. In the three classes I was already in, I have worked with the TA¿¿s and Professors to create a plan so that I can be caught up. I am happy to say that I am only one assignment away from being caught up to the entire class in LAW 201 and am even scheduled to write the midterm with the class this weekend, and will be completely caught up with the class. ASTR 101 I am one assessment away from being caught up and for ENSC 203, I will be caught up to the entire class within on more week as there were a few writing assignments I had missed.
I spoke personally with MATH 121¿¿s Professor Day about my situation and he has been extremely understanding. Because I have taken MATH 121 in the past, I have an understanding of the basics. In our meeting, he outlined what chapters we were reading up to, and suggested what work to look at in the mean time so that I can get caught up. Professor Day has given me permission to attend lectures and tutorials throughout this process so that I understand the pace and structure of the course. I have already purchased the textbook and attended lectures and have been catching up on the chapters that I have missed. I have a math tutor that has taken the course who is also helping me, additionally Professor Day has said that once I am enrolled into the course I can work with the TA¿¿s to make up the assignments. Many of them are online and he just needs to re-open them. Many of them I would be able to do immediately as content wise, I am far along into catching up with the class. I have been very careful in scheduling my time, especially with my other courses to make sure I am not overpromising on what I can deliver and through working the past two weeks I am very excited about being completely caught up soon.
Another source of my lack of success in the past of taking MATH 121 was due to my lack of motivation. I felt that I did not have to do well because I could just take it again another year. This will not be an issue as it is my final year and I understand the gravity of the situation should I not pass this course. I have always loved being involved in extracurricular. Last year I was the president of 2 clubs, on 4 other executive committees¿¿ and a general member for a few other clubs. I noticed the toll that it had not only on my schoolwork but on my emotions as well. I have stepped away from a few clubs in order to have more time to study and have only remained in a few that will act as de-stressors. Additionally, I have set up a check in system with my family. They know my entire schedule and will help hold me accountable to attending every class, I have also given them access to see my grades freely and that is something that personally really motivates me to do well. My parents have also stepped in to help financially for this final year and therefore I was able to step away from my job, which relieves a lot of stress. As I have been meeting with Professor Day and following up with the work as well as I can, I am confident that I can not only catch up but excel in MATH 121.
With the aim of graduating this year with a general Biology Degree, MATH 121 is the only requirement I am missing. This semester I have dropped a course in order to make sure I can keep up with everything and if let into MATH 121, I would only be in 4 courses. Additionally, I have chosen electives that I am interested in and I have taken a careful look at the workload of each of the courses in order to ensure that I can fully handle the work. In the past, a factor in my lack of success was my fear of asking for help from professors or TA¿¿s. If I didn¿¿t understand something I would be too scared to ask. I have really changed as I have met will all my professors and TA¿¿s not only to schedule due dates but have also reached out and gotten a lot of help for the material for the courses as well.
I have spent the past 2 weeks speaking with all of my professors. I am enrolled in LAW 201, ASTR 101 and ENSC 203. In the three classes I was already in, I have worked with the TA¿¿s and Professors to create a plan so that I can be caught up. I am happy to say that I am only one assignment away from being caught up to the entire class in LAW 201 and am even scheduled to write the midterm with the class this weekend, and will be completely caught up with the class. ASTR 101 I am one assessment away from being caught up and for ENSC 203, I will be caught up to the entire class within on more week as there were a few writing assignments I had missed.
I spoke personally with MATH 121¿¿s Professor Day about my situation and he has been extremely understanding. Because I have taken MATH 121 in the past, I have an understanding of the basics. In our meeting, he outlined what chapters we were reading up to, and suggested what work to look at in the mean time so that I can get caught up. Professor Day has given me permission to attend lectures and tutorials throughout this process so that I understand the pace and structure of the course. I have already purchased the textbook and attended lectures and have been catching up on the chapters that I have missed. I have a math tutor that has taken the course who is also helping me, additionally Professor Day has said that once I am enrolled into the course I can work with the TA¿¿s to make up the assignments. Many of them are online and he just needs to re-open them. Many of them I would be able to do immediately as content wise, I am far along into catching up with the class. I have been very careful in scheduling my time, especially with my other courses to make sure I am not overpromising on what I can deliver and through working the past two weeks I am very excited about being completely caught up soon.
Another source of my lack of success in the past of taking MATH 121 was due to my lack of motivation. I felt that I did not have to do well because I could just take it again another year. This will not be an issue as it is my final year and I understand the gravity of the situation should I not pass this course. I have always loved being involved in extracurricular. Last year I was the president of 2 clubs, on 4 other executive committees¿¿ and a general member for a few other clubs. I noticed the toll that it had not only on my schoolwork but on my emotions as well. I have stepped away from a few clubs in order to have more time to study and have only remained in a few that will act as de-stressors. Additionally, I have set up a check in system with my family. They know my entire schedule and will help hold me accountable to attending every class, I have also given them access to see my grades freely and that is something that personally really motivates me to do well. My parents have also stepped in to help financially for this final year and therefore I was able to step away from my job, which relieves a lot of stress. As I have been meeting with Professor Day and following up with the work as well as I can, I am confident that I can not only catch up but excel in MATH 121.
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: NO DOC
Document: CC letter-1.docx
Documentation Detail: I apologize if the letter is difficult to understand, I did not feel as if it was my place to edit the grammar. If you have more questions/need clarification she would be more than happy to clarify.
History
Originally submitted October 27, 2016 at 10:47:25 AM.
| Field | Reference | Old Value | New Value | Note | User | Date/Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| status | N/A | Received | Prepared for Review | Carrie Roosenmaalen | 2016-10-27 4:05:33 PM | |
| status | N/A | Prepared for Review | Incomplete | Spring Forsberg | 2016-10-28 9:22:43 AM | |
| status | N/A | Incomplete | Granted | Haley Everson | 2016-11-22 10:20:21 AM | |
| associate_dean | N/A | Johanne Benard, Ph.D. | Haley Everson | 2016-11-22 10:20:21 AM |