Petition Letter
Office of the Dean
Dunning Hall - First Floor,
94 University Avenue
Queen's University
Kingston, ON Canada
K7L 3N6
May 24, 2015
Jordan Coccimiglio
10 Kaufman Drive
Hamilton, Ontario
Canada
L0R 1C0
To the Associate Dean (studies)
I, Jordan Coccimiglio, am appealing my grade of D+ in the course ECON 222 (Winter). I would like to receive CR standing for this course on my transcript. During the exam, on April 21, 2015, I experienced a severe anxiety attack which inhibited my thought process and the ability to complete the exam.
I am currently a second year undergraduate student in Applied Economics. On January 21st, 2015, I underwent intensive shoulder surgery as the result of a shoulder injury from being hit in hockey while playing for Queen¿¿s Men¿¿s Varsity Hockey Team. The surgery and recovery process led me to miss nearly a month of class as a result of being in constant pain, which inhibited my ability to sleep. Because of the pain, I became reliant on sleeping pills and pain killers to help get me through my day. I attempted to be proactive and made accommodations with Disability Services before my surgery and had a note taker in each of my classes. I also applied for the taxi grant through the AMS; however they informed me that they were unable to fully subsidize transportation during the recovery process because of their lack of funds. In addition to the high level of pain, my fear of walking outside to class was very high. It was the middle of winter, the sidewalks were very icy and I was forced to wear a sling for a month. If I were to slip and fall there would be no way for me to catch myself and I would risk re-injuring my shoulder. The ramifications of the surgery led to the resurfacing of previous mental health issues. I was suffering a great deal of depression as a result of the constant pain, lack of sleep, fear of falling behind in class and not being able to play hockey. My depression had been an on-going issue prior to my time at Queen¿¿s, during which I was seeing a psychologist several times a week. The difference between this time and my previous time is that I did not have my family in town to support me. I was embarrassed to talk to my friends about what I was going through because I did not want them to think differently of me; leading me to feel like I was all alone in my depression and anxiety. I did my best over the course of the term to keep up with work and my studies.
I have always thought of myself as a strong person. During the semester, I thought about going to get help over the school year from HCDS or the Peer Support Centre, but could not get the courage to go and talk to someone. I did not want to believe that I was at this point in my life again for the second time in my life. I felt that it would make me less of a ¿¿man¿ by going to talk to a professional because I was older and supposed to be stronger. I decided to push through my struggles and figured that I would eventually get over it and everything would be fine. Ultimately, this was not the case, as I found it extremely difficult to study for all of my exams. I had no motivation to do anything except stay in bed or just do nothing with myself. I made a conscious effort during the semester, as well as during the exam period to make appointments with professors to review issues with course work and receive extra help. However, despite my good intentions and constant efforts to stay on top of class work, I had little control over the anxiety attack I experienced during the Econ 222 exam. I ended up doing okay in my other four classes, but my state of mind was still reflected in my grades as I believe I could and should have done better in all of my classes.
I have generally done well in all of my other Economics classes at Queen¿¿s; meeting or exceeding the class average. I have traditionally gotten B¿¿s in all of my economics classes and A¿¿s in all of my commerce classes, which is why a D+ in Macroeconomics is extremely uncharacteristic of me. My grade going into the class was about an 84.5, I did well on the midterm and did well on all of my assignments throughout the course. I received a 79 on my midterm in the course and had anywhere from an 85-95 on all assignments in the course, but on the final exam I got a 23. From my previous marks, it is evident that I had knowledge of the course content and should have been able to get a better mark on the exam. Immediately after I wrote the exam I knew I did not do well because of my anxiety attack. I was unable to focus and could neither see nor think straight while writing my exam. I did my best to get as much down as I could, but my mental state inhibited me from finishing most of the exam. I do not believe it was the course work or preparation for the exam itself which caused my anxiety, but rather because Econ 222 was my final exam, my poor mental health and exam stress were at their peak. It is likely this mental reaction would have occurred regardless of which subject I was writing at the end of the exam period. I emailed Professor Kennedy as soon as I got home after my exam to explain my situation asking him if there was any way I could re-write the exam or hand in an alternative assignment, as I knew I was not able to demonstrate my understanding. He advised me that the only option I had was to appeal my grade.
Since I have been home and around my family, my mental health has greatly approved. I credit this improvement to my family¿¿s support and the serious consideration of accessing professional help this summer. Having seen the consequences of not seeking professional help during the school, I have reminded myself of the purpose and importance of having these resources on campus and I will be certain to access these services if signs of mental health issues resurface during the rest of my time at Queen¿¿s. I have always taken a great degree of pride in my grades and believe that the current grade of D+ in Econ 222 is not reflective of the quality of work that I have produced in the past and will continue to produce in my third and fourth years at Queen¿¿s. I do not want to let a very bad day influenced by several months of personal turmoil take a toll on my cumulative GPA. Being granted a CR standing for Econ 222 will serve as a reminder to take my mental health seriously and will strongly encourage me to keep my health and academics in a constant ¿¿check and balance¿ as I work towards completing my degree. I thank you for taking my appeal into consideration.
Sincerely,
Jordan Coccimiglio
Dunning Hall - First Floor,
94 University Avenue
Queen's University
Kingston, ON Canada
K7L 3N6
May 24, 2015
Jordan Coccimiglio
10 Kaufman Drive
Hamilton, Ontario
Canada
L0R 1C0
To the Associate Dean (studies)
I, Jordan Coccimiglio, am appealing my grade of D+ in the course ECON 222 (Winter). I would like to receive CR standing for this course on my transcript. During the exam, on April 21, 2015, I experienced a severe anxiety attack which inhibited my thought process and the ability to complete the exam.
I am currently a second year undergraduate student in Applied Economics. On January 21st, 2015, I underwent intensive shoulder surgery as the result of a shoulder injury from being hit in hockey while playing for Queen¿¿s Men¿¿s Varsity Hockey Team. The surgery and recovery process led me to miss nearly a month of class as a result of being in constant pain, which inhibited my ability to sleep. Because of the pain, I became reliant on sleeping pills and pain killers to help get me through my day. I attempted to be proactive and made accommodations with Disability Services before my surgery and had a note taker in each of my classes. I also applied for the taxi grant through the AMS; however they informed me that they were unable to fully subsidize transportation during the recovery process because of their lack of funds. In addition to the high level of pain, my fear of walking outside to class was very high. It was the middle of winter, the sidewalks were very icy and I was forced to wear a sling for a month. If I were to slip and fall there would be no way for me to catch myself and I would risk re-injuring my shoulder. The ramifications of the surgery led to the resurfacing of previous mental health issues. I was suffering a great deal of depression as a result of the constant pain, lack of sleep, fear of falling behind in class and not being able to play hockey. My depression had been an on-going issue prior to my time at Queen¿¿s, during which I was seeing a psychologist several times a week. The difference between this time and my previous time is that I did not have my family in town to support me. I was embarrassed to talk to my friends about what I was going through because I did not want them to think differently of me; leading me to feel like I was all alone in my depression and anxiety. I did my best over the course of the term to keep up with work and my studies.
I have always thought of myself as a strong person. During the semester, I thought about going to get help over the school year from HCDS or the Peer Support Centre, but could not get the courage to go and talk to someone. I did not want to believe that I was at this point in my life again for the second time in my life. I felt that it would make me less of a ¿¿man¿ by going to talk to a professional because I was older and supposed to be stronger. I decided to push through my struggles and figured that I would eventually get over it and everything would be fine. Ultimately, this was not the case, as I found it extremely difficult to study for all of my exams. I had no motivation to do anything except stay in bed or just do nothing with myself. I made a conscious effort during the semester, as well as during the exam period to make appointments with professors to review issues with course work and receive extra help. However, despite my good intentions and constant efforts to stay on top of class work, I had little control over the anxiety attack I experienced during the Econ 222 exam. I ended up doing okay in my other four classes, but my state of mind was still reflected in my grades as I believe I could and should have done better in all of my classes.
I have generally done well in all of my other Economics classes at Queen¿¿s; meeting or exceeding the class average. I have traditionally gotten B¿¿s in all of my economics classes and A¿¿s in all of my commerce classes, which is why a D+ in Macroeconomics is extremely uncharacteristic of me. My grade going into the class was about an 84.5, I did well on the midterm and did well on all of my assignments throughout the course. I received a 79 on my midterm in the course and had anywhere from an 85-95 on all assignments in the course, but on the final exam I got a 23. From my previous marks, it is evident that I had knowledge of the course content and should have been able to get a better mark on the exam. Immediately after I wrote the exam I knew I did not do well because of my anxiety attack. I was unable to focus and could neither see nor think straight while writing my exam. I did my best to get as much down as I could, but my mental state inhibited me from finishing most of the exam. I do not believe it was the course work or preparation for the exam itself which caused my anxiety, but rather because Econ 222 was my final exam, my poor mental health and exam stress were at their peak. It is likely this mental reaction would have occurred regardless of which subject I was writing at the end of the exam period. I emailed Professor Kennedy as soon as I got home after my exam to explain my situation asking him if there was any way I could re-write the exam or hand in an alternative assignment, as I knew I was not able to demonstrate my understanding. He advised me that the only option I had was to appeal my grade.
Since I have been home and around my family, my mental health has greatly approved. I credit this improvement to my family¿¿s support and the serious consideration of accessing professional help this summer. Having seen the consequences of not seeking professional help during the school, I have reminded myself of the purpose and importance of having these resources on campus and I will be certain to access these services if signs of mental health issues resurface during the rest of my time at Queen¿¿s. I have always taken a great degree of pride in my grades and believe that the current grade of D+ in Econ 222 is not reflective of the quality of work that I have produced in the past and will continue to produce in my third and fourth years at Queen¿¿s. I do not want to let a very bad day influenced by several months of personal turmoil take a toll on my cumulative GPA. Being granted a CR standing for Econ 222 will serve as a reminder to take my mental health seriously and will strongly encourage me to keep my health and academics in a constant ¿¿check and balance¿ as I work towards completing my degree. I thank you for taking my appeal into consideration.
Sincerely,
Jordan Coccimiglio