Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 708
Submitted: January 25, 2015 at 10:09:57 PM
First Name: Ashley
Last Name: Buske
Student Number: 10091752
Email: 12amb14@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BSc
Plan: MATH
Level of Study: 2
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Waive the 21-day or one term deadline
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: To: The Associate Dean of Studies
I am appealing to waive the 21day deadline so that I may request to drop GEOL104 & MATH 121 for a credit standing in PHYS117.
Coming to Queen's I was oblivious to what qualified as an extenuating circumstance and was unaware of what resources that were available to me, such as the appeal process, for I am the first in my family to attend University.
On January 10th, 2013 before my acceptance to Queen's, I wrote an extenuating circumstances letter as a factor in considering my application to Queen's about the hardships I experienced in High School. Late in the year after the submission of this letter, I had an accident that caused me to have the second concussion in my life. This one was different then the slight disorientation I had experienced during my first one. I began having trouble concentrating; following along with simple conversations and the headaches were not tolerable. They made my pre-existing migraines seem pleasurable and these were a different kind of pain then I had experienced before. It was the concentration issue that I noticed most however, my biology teacher began to notice my slip in responsiveness, he knew something really wasn't right with how I was acting or the last grade on my test, which was very abnormal for me. I sought out medical help from a nurse practitioner when weeks went by and I still felt different, she said it was a post- concussion symptom and in time it would get better. Months went by and although it got better, I never seemed to go back to normal. I noticed my slip in concentration towards my studies and my extra-curricular activities, but their wasn't much I could do but keep going. During this time I was accepted to Queen's. When I was accepted, I've never seen my parents so proud. I was so happy, I just forgot all about my concentration and slight memory issues. I had gotten in and I thought that's all that mattered. I had no idea what to do about it and I figured it would eventually go away like the doctor had said. After all I went through in high school I just couldn't pass up Queen's, it was what I had been striving for my whole high school career but now here I am with another concussion, worse memory and concentration problems and wanting nothing more for things to be all right again.
The point of this being, Queen's has always been my dream and extenuating circumstances seem to keep getting in the way but yet I will not quit. In first year I know the concussion really caused me a lot of trouble in concentrating, I tried reaching out for help in first year but the peer help offered in first year did not sufficiently help me know my options. I was scared and ashamed about the symptoms I was still suffering from, combined with being in a big city, with new people and no idea what I was doing here. I just had no idea what to do and my parents had no clue either; having never been to university. I manage to struggle through most of my courses, spending hours studying but not much sticking with me. It didn't help second term that I lost two aunts within a month's span which made it a really hard year.
I'm in second year now and I knew things had to be different; I needed to seek help. I heard in second year you could talk to an academic councilor so the first thing I did was go to academic advisement. I also went to career services and to the learning commons and booked an appointment with a learning strategist. I had a plan in line to overcome everything for my second year when I suffered another concussion at Midterms fall 2014. I've since had to defer exams because of the worsen effects of my third concussion for two concussions in a year and a half.
My plan for achieving academic success includes taking a reduced semester for Winter/2015, in order to get everything sorted out and continue to heal so that I may get better and get back on track. This summer I plan on not taking any summer courses in order to give myself ample time to rest and recover. I believe that along with the assistance of the medical help I am seeking and the academic support services at Queen's, I may get back on track and hopefully return in the fall healed. I have discussed the options with disability and academic advisement and I probably will end up taking an extra year to finish my degree but I'm ok with that. I just want to finally be better and be able to carry out my dream of graduating from Queen's.
I sincerely thank you in advance for hearing me out on this issue and I hope you will take everything into consideration with your decision on my appeal.
Sincerely,
Ashley Buske
I am appealing to waive the 21day deadline so that I may request to drop GEOL104 & MATH 121 for a credit standing in PHYS117.
Coming to Queen's I was oblivious to what qualified as an extenuating circumstance and was unaware of what resources that were available to me, such as the appeal process, for I am the first in my family to attend University.
On January 10th, 2013 before my acceptance to Queen's, I wrote an extenuating circumstances letter as a factor in considering my application to Queen's about the hardships I experienced in High School. Late in the year after the submission of this letter, I had an accident that caused me to have the second concussion in my life. This one was different then the slight disorientation I had experienced during my first one. I began having trouble concentrating; following along with simple conversations and the headaches were not tolerable. They made my pre-existing migraines seem pleasurable and these were a different kind of pain then I had experienced before. It was the concentration issue that I noticed most however, my biology teacher began to notice my slip in responsiveness, he knew something really wasn't right with how I was acting or the last grade on my test, which was very abnormal for me. I sought out medical help from a nurse practitioner when weeks went by and I still felt different, she said it was a post- concussion symptom and in time it would get better. Months went by and although it got better, I never seemed to go back to normal. I noticed my slip in concentration towards my studies and my extra-curricular activities, but their wasn't much I could do but keep going. During this time I was accepted to Queen's. When I was accepted, I've never seen my parents so proud. I was so happy, I just forgot all about my concentration and slight memory issues. I had gotten in and I thought that's all that mattered. I had no idea what to do about it and I figured it would eventually go away like the doctor had said. After all I went through in high school I just couldn't pass up Queen's, it was what I had been striving for my whole high school career but now here I am with another concussion, worse memory and concentration problems and wanting nothing more for things to be all right again.
The point of this being, Queen's has always been my dream and extenuating circumstances seem to keep getting in the way but yet I will not quit. In first year I know the concussion really caused me a lot of trouble in concentrating, I tried reaching out for help in first year but the peer help offered in first year did not sufficiently help me know my options. I was scared and ashamed about the symptoms I was still suffering from, combined with being in a big city, with new people and no idea what I was doing here. I just had no idea what to do and my parents had no clue either; having never been to university. I manage to struggle through most of my courses, spending hours studying but not much sticking with me. It didn't help second term that I lost two aunts within a month's span which made it a really hard year.
I'm in second year now and I knew things had to be different; I needed to seek help. I heard in second year you could talk to an academic councilor so the first thing I did was go to academic advisement. I also went to career services and to the learning commons and booked an appointment with a learning strategist. I had a plan in line to overcome everything for my second year when I suffered another concussion at Midterms fall 2014. I've since had to defer exams because of the worsen effects of my third concussion for two concussions in a year and a half.
My plan for achieving academic success includes taking a reduced semester for Winter/2015, in order to get everything sorted out and continue to heal so that I may get better and get back on track. This summer I plan on not taking any summer courses in order to give myself ample time to rest and recover. I believe that along with the assistance of the medical help I am seeking and the academic support services at Queen's, I may get back on track and hopefully return in the fall healed. I have discussed the options with disability and academic advisement and I probably will end up taking an extra year to finish my degree but I'm ok with that. I just want to finally be better and be able to carry out my dream of graduating from Queen's.
I sincerely thank you in advance for hearing me out on this issue and I hope you will take everything into consideration with your decision on my appeal.
Sincerely,
Ashley Buske
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: Physician Documentation of Concussion
Documentation Detail: /Users/ashleybuske/Desktop/Extenuating Circumstances.docx
Documentation Detail: /Users/ashleybuske/Desktop/scan-20150121093941954.pdf
Decision Letters
Amendment to Appeal 708
Relevant Petition: 708
First Name: Ashley
Last Name: Buske
Student Number: 10091752
Email: 12amb14@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BSc
Plan: MATH
Level of Study: 2
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Drop a course after the academic deadline, Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Code: PHYS 117
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2013
Petition Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor's Name: M. A. Singh
Code: GEOL 104
Term: Winter
Year: 2014
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: MATH 121
Term: Summer
Year: 2014
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: To: The Associate Dean of Studies
Due to some unfortunate circumstances in which my academic performance has been severely affected, I wish to request for a credit standing in PHYS 117 from Fall/Winter 2013-2014 and to drop late GEOL 104 from Winter 2014, MATH 121 from Summer 2014.
The end of April prior to my commencement of studies at Queen's University, I experience an accident that caused a rather severe concussion. With a history of concussions, I experienced some unfavorable symptoms, which included: intolerable headaches, concentration and memory problems and also some uncharacteristic behavior. These symptoms did not go unnoticed among my teachers who noticed a slip in my responsiveness towards academics and extra-curricular activities. Months went by and although the symptoms seemed to improve slowly, they did not fully resolve themselves over the summer months as I had hoped. Upon coming to Queen's I had come to forget about some of the issues that I was having, until the fantasy of being at Queen's wore off and it began to dawn on me that although I had moved on to university, my symptoms might not have passed.
The period of adjustment to a higher degree of education and an unknown city was hard enough but my symptoms made it extremely difficult. I struggled in concentrating during the lectures with other student fidgeting and talking, I had difficulties absorbing and focusing on required readings and reviewing notes, as well as the prolonged time it took for me to process a question on an assignment or quiz. My memory was not excellent but the fact that I was having issues concentrating made it worse. The more I forced myself to concentrate the more headaches I experienced and so the cycle ensued. I believed I could persevere, although at the end of fall semester I noted that I was in need of assistance. I went to academic counseling where as a first year I was directed to a student for assistance, where I was not sufficiently presented with options. I felt very distraught, academically isolated and ashamed. I stressed myself to rebound, to miraculously do better but things unraveled from there. I was able to pass most courses by taking my time on assignments knowing that they could help compensate for my poor memory skills during the tests and exams. I was able to struggle through most multiple-choice exams with somewhat success for they allowed for me to have some recollection of the course material. Unfortunately courses that were weighed heavy on full recollection of course material such as MATH 121, GEOL 104 and PHYS 117, I did not do well in at all.
I knew I was not fulfilling my full potential, I consider myself quite proficient in academics and honestly I had difficulty acknowledging that I was in dire need of assistance. Although my symptoms were improving they hindered my performance greatly. This past year I was prepared to gain aid through Queen's services which I took advantage of and have been, but regrettably just as I was beginning to recover significantly from my dwindling symptoms I experienced another unforeseen incident at the end of October of this year, where I sustained another concussion. Although this time it was quite different, I know that I have to deal with it differently and that although I cannot see the injury, it is an injury nonetheless and it needs to be properly taken care of. I have taken many steps to gain any aid that I can; academically from Queen's Services as well as medically from my family doctor and hematologist for I have a rare bleeding disorder. I was advised that taking a reduced semester would allow myself the needed time to succeed academically and overcome my looming symptoms. As a result my symptoms are resolving themselves slowly as I manage to my health. I plan to finish up my deferred exams and complete the two courses that I am taking so that I may achieve the goals I have set. I plan not to do any new courses over the summer so that I will not be under any stress and may be able to accelerate my healing, so that I may return in the fall mostly recovered. I acknowledge that I will have to take an extra year in order to achieve my program goals. Although this has been a trying time, I like to think of it as an opportunity to have become stronger and that I can endure obstacles thrown in my path.
I sincerely thank you in advance for hearing me out on this issue and I hope you will take everything into consideration with your decision on my appeal.
Sincerely,
Ashley Buske
Due to some unfortunate circumstances in which my academic performance has been severely affected, I wish to request for a credit standing in PHYS 117 from Fall/Winter 2013-2014 and to drop late GEOL 104 from Winter 2014, MATH 121 from Summer 2014.
The end of April prior to my commencement of studies at Queen's University, I experience an accident that caused a rather severe concussion. With a history of concussions, I experienced some unfavorable symptoms, which included: intolerable headaches, concentration and memory problems and also some uncharacteristic behavior. These symptoms did not go unnoticed among my teachers who noticed a slip in my responsiveness towards academics and extra-curricular activities. Months went by and although the symptoms seemed to improve slowly, they did not fully resolve themselves over the summer months as I had hoped. Upon coming to Queen's I had come to forget about some of the issues that I was having, until the fantasy of being at Queen's wore off and it began to dawn on me that although I had moved on to university, my symptoms might not have passed.
The period of adjustment to a higher degree of education and an unknown city was hard enough but my symptoms made it extremely difficult. I struggled in concentrating during the lectures with other student fidgeting and talking, I had difficulties absorbing and focusing on required readings and reviewing notes, as well as the prolonged time it took for me to process a question on an assignment or quiz. My memory was not excellent but the fact that I was having issues concentrating made it worse. The more I forced myself to concentrate the more headaches I experienced and so the cycle ensued. I believed I could persevere, although at the end of fall semester I noted that I was in need of assistance. I went to academic counseling where as a first year I was directed to a student for assistance, where I was not sufficiently presented with options. I felt very distraught, academically isolated and ashamed. I stressed myself to rebound, to miraculously do better but things unraveled from there. I was able to pass most courses by taking my time on assignments knowing that they could help compensate for my poor memory skills during the tests and exams. I was able to struggle through most multiple-choice exams with somewhat success for they allowed for me to have some recollection of the course material. Unfortunately courses that were weighed heavy on full recollection of course material such as MATH 121, GEOL 104 and PHYS 117, I did not do well in at all.
I knew I was not fulfilling my full potential, I consider myself quite proficient in academics and honestly I had difficulty acknowledging that I was in dire need of assistance. Although my symptoms were improving they hindered my performance greatly. This past year I was prepared to gain aid through Queen's services which I took advantage of and have been, but regrettably just as I was beginning to recover significantly from my dwindling symptoms I experienced another unforeseen incident at the end of October of this year, where I sustained another concussion. Although this time it was quite different, I know that I have to deal with it differently and that although I cannot see the injury, it is an injury nonetheless and it needs to be properly taken care of. I have taken many steps to gain any aid that I can; academically from Queen's Services as well as medically from my family doctor and hematologist for I have a rare bleeding disorder. I was advised that taking a reduced semester would allow myself the needed time to succeed academically and overcome my looming symptoms. As a result my symptoms are resolving themselves slowly as I manage to my health. I plan to finish up my deferred exams and complete the two courses that I am taking so that I may achieve the goals I have set. I plan not to do any new courses over the summer so that I will not be under any stress and may be able to accelerate my healing, so that I may return in the fall mostly recovered. I acknowledge that I will have to take an extra year in order to achieve my program goals. Although this has been a trying time, I like to think of it as an opportunity to have become stronger and that I can endure obstacles thrown in my path.
I sincerely thank you in advance for hearing me out on this issue and I hope you will take everything into consideration with your decision on my appeal.
Sincerely,
Ashley Buske
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: Letter from Queen's Counselling Services
History
Originally submitted January 25, 2015 at 10:09:57 PM.
| Field | Reference | Old Value | New Value | Note | User | Date/Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| status | N/A | Received | Prepared for Review | Carrie Roosenmaalen | 2015-01-26 8:50:31 AM | |
| status | N/A | Prepared for Review | Incomplete | waiting on doc | Haley Everson | 2015-01-27 9:10:43 AM |
| status | N/A | Incomplete | In Review | Haley Everson | 2015-02-11 2:12:32 PM | |
| status | N/A | In Review | Granted | Haley Everson | 2015-02-23 9:20:30 AM | |
| associate_dean | N/A | Johanne Benard, Ph.D. | Haley Everson | 2015-02-23 9:20:30 AM | ||
| decision_letter | N/A | N/A | Decision letter sent | Haley Everson | 2015-02-23 9:21:17 AM |