Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 7443
Submitted: March 12, 2021 at 3:37:55 PM
First Name: Alessandro
Last Name: Biscotti
Student Number: 20225288
Email: 19agb8@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BCPH
Plan: CSCI
Level of Study: 1
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: CISC 102
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: CISC 121
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: ECON 111
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,
My name is Alessandro Biscotti, and I am a first year student in the Bachelor of Computing (Honours) program. I am writing you this message to formally ask for your support and appeal to allow me to drop the following first semester classes: CISC 121 (Fall 2020), CISC 102(Fall 2020), and ECON 111 (Fall 2020) to change my results to a DR.
This isn¿¿t easy for me but in January I reached out to family, my family doctor, and student counselling services and am on a support plan to get myself on track. The reason I am appealing to drop these courses is because during the fall semester I went through tough coping and mental times. It turns out that I am suffering from ADD/ADHD symptoms which may have been undiagnosed for a long time. With COVID, my first year is fully online and my inability to cope on my own inturn caused me to sit at my computer, review some class content but in the end I did not do or submit my work and failed these classes. My unofficial transcript currently shows F for all three of these classes and I am working directly with my two full year Math profs to salvage both courses before the final grades are issued.
I now know from discussions with my family doctor that this stain on my record was caused by my lack of knowledge of having ADD symptoms and in retrospect I may have been dealing with this for a long time. The difference in high school was that I was in class surrounded by long time friends and I was also a long time competitive soccer player (5-6 days a week) which was also abruptly stopped by COVID. These were coping mechanisms that helped my ability to focus and exert energy at levels completely different than what has been a very difficult first semester for me.
If I can explain, I was feeling great grief before asking for help in January as even though I understood that I needed to do my work I felt extreme mental pushes away from my school work. Fully working online without any meaningful fellow student contact also gave me many ways to do other things, get distracted, and rid my brain of the thought of doing my class work. This cycle continued week after week causing me much anxiety about not having done my work which made me even more anxious about addressing what was going on. The anxiety grew into a self hatred and made me doubt my abilities which drove me further down the wrong path. Therefore I failed all my classes however as mentioned, for two of the 5 classes are full year classes so I have taken it upon myself and made plans with the professors directly to be able to salvage these marks and pass these classes. I am also retaking CISC 121 this semester and CISC 102 during the summer (already registered) to make sure I get the credits I need to continue and stay on track with others in my program. I am also planning on making up my lost elective ECON 111 during the summer of 2022. Furthermore, to ensure I do not have this situation happen to me ever again I went through the school¿¿s empower me program and they matched me with a therapist that I have weekly meetings with. She has helped me greatly through our first 6 sessions to create a plan that allows me to be able to work through struggles while reaching my academic potential. I have now been approved and set up another 12 sessions to continue the work we have started. I am also scheduled to start my psychoeducational assessment March 25th with CAFCO (The Child, Adolescent and Family Centre of Ottawa) so I can get a detailed assessment and results. Changing these course results from an F to a DR, it would greatly help me get back on track with my Queens education with the hope to finish my degree in the original timeline and with a major in artificial intelligence. These failed classes are a mark that I know does not represent my true potential and I need to overcome this, I would greatly appreciate it if you could look over my appeal and support me. More importantly and as you can see, I no longer am dealing with my issues alone and am fully supported with a solid plan to stay organized, motivated, and on track.
Finally, I can report that the plan is working as my grades this semester are hovering around a B. Dr. Stephenson, I am really hoping to count on your support to help me through this life learning, maturation, and allowing me to overcome what I¿¿ve now recognized I need to deal with for the rest of my life.
I will make myself readily available to you to discuss any of this in detail including reviewing the context of the attached note from my physician.
With gratitude,
Alessandro Biscotti
My name is Alessandro Biscotti, and I am a first year student in the Bachelor of Computing (Honours) program. I am writing you this message to formally ask for your support and appeal to allow me to drop the following first semester classes: CISC 121 (Fall 2020), CISC 102(Fall 2020), and ECON 111 (Fall 2020) to change my results to a DR.
This isn¿¿t easy for me but in January I reached out to family, my family doctor, and student counselling services and am on a support plan to get myself on track. The reason I am appealing to drop these courses is because during the fall semester I went through tough coping and mental times. It turns out that I am suffering from ADD/ADHD symptoms which may have been undiagnosed for a long time. With COVID, my first year is fully online and my inability to cope on my own inturn caused me to sit at my computer, review some class content but in the end I did not do or submit my work and failed these classes. My unofficial transcript currently shows F for all three of these classes and I am working directly with my two full year Math profs to salvage both courses before the final grades are issued.
I now know from discussions with my family doctor that this stain on my record was caused by my lack of knowledge of having ADD symptoms and in retrospect I may have been dealing with this for a long time. The difference in high school was that I was in class surrounded by long time friends and I was also a long time competitive soccer player (5-6 days a week) which was also abruptly stopped by COVID. These were coping mechanisms that helped my ability to focus and exert energy at levels completely different than what has been a very difficult first semester for me.
If I can explain, I was feeling great grief before asking for help in January as even though I understood that I needed to do my work I felt extreme mental pushes away from my school work. Fully working online without any meaningful fellow student contact also gave me many ways to do other things, get distracted, and rid my brain of the thought of doing my class work. This cycle continued week after week causing me much anxiety about not having done my work which made me even more anxious about addressing what was going on. The anxiety grew into a self hatred and made me doubt my abilities which drove me further down the wrong path. Therefore I failed all my classes however as mentioned, for two of the 5 classes are full year classes so I have taken it upon myself and made plans with the professors directly to be able to salvage these marks and pass these classes. I am also retaking CISC 121 this semester and CISC 102 during the summer (already registered) to make sure I get the credits I need to continue and stay on track with others in my program. I am also planning on making up my lost elective ECON 111 during the summer of 2022. Furthermore, to ensure I do not have this situation happen to me ever again I went through the school¿¿s empower me program and they matched me with a therapist that I have weekly meetings with. She has helped me greatly through our first 6 sessions to create a plan that allows me to be able to work through struggles while reaching my academic potential. I have now been approved and set up another 12 sessions to continue the work we have started. I am also scheduled to start my psychoeducational assessment March 25th with CAFCO (The Child, Adolescent and Family Centre of Ottawa) so I can get a detailed assessment and results. Changing these course results from an F to a DR, it would greatly help me get back on track with my Queens education with the hope to finish my degree in the original timeline and with a major in artificial intelligence. These failed classes are a mark that I know does not represent my true potential and I need to overcome this, I would greatly appreciate it if you could look over my appeal and support me. More importantly and as you can see, I no longer am dealing with my issues alone and am fully supported with a solid plan to stay organized, motivated, and on track.
Finally, I can report that the plan is working as my grades this semester are hovering around a B. Dr. Stephenson, I am really hoping to count on your support to help me through this life learning, maturation, and allowing me to overcome what I¿¿ve now recognized I need to deal with for the rest of my life.
I will make myself readily available to you to discuss any of this in detail including reviewing the context of the attached note from my physician.
With gratitude,
Alessandro Biscotti