Petition Letter
Tanesha Duncan Zulu
May 23rd, 2023
Dear Academic Associate Dean, I am petitioning to waive the Faculty??s requirement that I must withdraw from Queen??s University for a year. During this academic school year, I faced an unexpected traumatic family issue that caused me to enter a depressive episode. As the school year continued, my mental health and family support declined, leaving me in a poor state of well-being. I struggled a lot during the weeks after Thanksgiving, such as getting out of bed, making it to lectures, and having the ability to focus during lectures. In all honesty, the pressure of my family's expectations and school became all too much. By October, I began to have suicidal thoughts and it was affecting my overall academic performance. After this occurred I was finally able to resume consultations with my social worker after not being able to do so for two months due to financial aid expenses. Despite my efforts to regain some sustainability with my mental health for the rest of the academic year, I continued to be unsuccessful due to added experiences. These added experiences include my family??s abandonment during the holidays and reading weeks that really took a toll on my mental health and willpower to keep on pushing.
The reason why I did not apply for academic considerations after first semester is because I was not mentally prepared to accept that I needed assistance. Anytime I thought about asking for help, I was reminded how much it felt like I had failed myself and those around me. I carried the burden of feeling like all of my work in high school and the effort I put in to succeed as a first-generation student, was all for nothing. I felt like I was joining the statistic of Black students from underprivileged families who struggle in university.
Since restarting my consultations, I have regained confidence and shown growth in my mental state. The only way to learn from my mistakes and failures is to accept that it did happen. That was the main issue that held me back from being the academic student I am known to be. With this in mind, in order to be successful this upcoming fall, if granted to do so, I have already taken the steps to get myself on antidepressants, gotten help researching the services available at Queens such as mentorship through my scholarship, tutoring, and continue to see my social worker weekly. The reason for me not taking the steps to go on anti-depressants earlier is because of cultural stigma on mental health within my family but with help and healing, I have learned that this decision is the right one to make in order for me to be more successful in the upcoming year.
May 23rd, 2023
Dear Academic Associate Dean, I am petitioning to waive the Faculty??s requirement that I must withdraw from Queen??s University for a year. During this academic school year, I faced an unexpected traumatic family issue that caused me to enter a depressive episode. As the school year continued, my mental health and family support declined, leaving me in a poor state of well-being. I struggled a lot during the weeks after Thanksgiving, such as getting out of bed, making it to lectures, and having the ability to focus during lectures. In all honesty, the pressure of my family's expectations and school became all too much. By October, I began to have suicidal thoughts and it was affecting my overall academic performance. After this occurred I was finally able to resume consultations with my social worker after not being able to do so for two months due to financial aid expenses. Despite my efforts to regain some sustainability with my mental health for the rest of the academic year, I continued to be unsuccessful due to added experiences. These added experiences include my family??s abandonment during the holidays and reading weeks that really took a toll on my mental health and willpower to keep on pushing.
The reason why I did not apply for academic considerations after first semester is because I was not mentally prepared to accept that I needed assistance. Anytime I thought about asking for help, I was reminded how much it felt like I had failed myself and those around me. I carried the burden of feeling like all of my work in high school and the effort I put in to succeed as a first-generation student, was all for nothing. I felt like I was joining the statistic of Black students from underprivileged families who struggle in university.
Since restarting my consultations, I have regained confidence and shown growth in my mental state. The only way to learn from my mistakes and failures is to accept that it did happen. That was the main issue that held me back from being the academic student I am known to be. With this in mind, in order to be successful this upcoming fall, if granted to do so, I have already taken the steps to get myself on antidepressants, gotten help researching the services available at Queens such as mentorship through my scholarship, tutoring, and continue to see my social worker weekly. The reason for me not taking the steps to go on anti-depressants earlier is because of cultural stigma on mental health within my family but with help and healing, I have learned that this decision is the right one to make in order for me to be more successful in the upcoming year.