Petition Letter
To Whom it May Concern:
I am making this appeal due to serious mental health concerns. Over the past year my family has been through the death of a close family friend, the collapse of the family business, the separation of my parents and my mother being diagnosed with cancer. In addition my mother was required to move from Parry Sound to Toronto to seek treatment and the relationship between my father and I was such that I was forced to seek accommodation on my own during the end of my last year of high school. This all caused a significant amount of emotional distress and I seriously considered differing my enrollment at Queens. However, I was offered a Chernoff Family Award which I was told I couldn't differ. Given my financial situation and how hard I had worked to be accepted to Queens I made the decision to push through and hope I¿¿d recover in the new environment.
Unfortunately, this was not the case. My mother continued to experience health concerns which resulted in another surgery and required aftercare. This was both a cause of stress and a time constraint for both of us. These circumstances as well as the stress of being a first year student greatly affected my capability to complete course work to my standards. This in turn caused more distress given my scholarship resting on my grades. Given my new surroundings I lacked many of the supports I had created previously to combat my psychological issues (friends, family, known counselor, relations with teachers and peers). I sought mental health aid and counseling both through Queens and outside sources and even differed my exams. However, the cumulative stress and other mental health issues resulted in my being unable to function almost entirely and missing exams.
After much deliberation and many meetings I had to acknowledge the concerns of my family and the reality of the situation. I then made the painful but necessary decision to withdraw from Queens for the time being. I have since moved in with a family friend (since none of my family are in a position to take me at this time) who is a life coach in training and am pursuing mental health aid as well as physical pursuits. I hope that by focusing on my physical health as well as my mental health I will find a better balance and overall life style. I also have secured a part time job recently and intend to be working to provide myself some financial stability. After some recovery time I hope to continue my university education with better coping skills in place to stay healthy and focused. I would greatly appreciate a clean slate when I decide to do this so that this troubled semester can remain in the past and not have permanent negative affects on my future.
After leaving Queens I was in a very delicate emotional/mental state and wasn't able to face what had happened over the past couple months without considerable distress and mental health regression. As a result of this it was recommended by my life coach to try and heal by simply moving forward with life until I was able to write a proper appeal. Unfortunately I was unaware of the 21-day appeal deadline. When I found out during my first attempt at writing this appeal I was so discouraged (also compounded by tech issues uploading supporting documentation which persists) that I made the rash decision that there was no chance with it being so late. I still am not convinced this isn't the case but I am at the point now where I know I couldn't forgive myself if I did not, at the very least, try. I'm sorry the last paragraph was more a personal than professional but it is the absolute truth and needed to be said.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Ariel Deverill-Lahtinen
Also, this site will not let me attach any of the documentation that I have at the moment (as mentioned). I am trying to figure out how to get around this but I am not sure how as of yet.
I am making this appeal due to serious mental health concerns. Over the past year my family has been through the death of a close family friend, the collapse of the family business, the separation of my parents and my mother being diagnosed with cancer. In addition my mother was required to move from Parry Sound to Toronto to seek treatment and the relationship between my father and I was such that I was forced to seek accommodation on my own during the end of my last year of high school. This all caused a significant amount of emotional distress and I seriously considered differing my enrollment at Queens. However, I was offered a Chernoff Family Award which I was told I couldn't differ. Given my financial situation and how hard I had worked to be accepted to Queens I made the decision to push through and hope I¿¿d recover in the new environment.
Unfortunately, this was not the case. My mother continued to experience health concerns which resulted in another surgery and required aftercare. This was both a cause of stress and a time constraint for both of us. These circumstances as well as the stress of being a first year student greatly affected my capability to complete course work to my standards. This in turn caused more distress given my scholarship resting on my grades. Given my new surroundings I lacked many of the supports I had created previously to combat my psychological issues (friends, family, known counselor, relations with teachers and peers). I sought mental health aid and counseling both through Queens and outside sources and even differed my exams. However, the cumulative stress and other mental health issues resulted in my being unable to function almost entirely and missing exams.
After much deliberation and many meetings I had to acknowledge the concerns of my family and the reality of the situation. I then made the painful but necessary decision to withdraw from Queens for the time being. I have since moved in with a family friend (since none of my family are in a position to take me at this time) who is a life coach in training and am pursuing mental health aid as well as physical pursuits. I hope that by focusing on my physical health as well as my mental health I will find a better balance and overall life style. I also have secured a part time job recently and intend to be working to provide myself some financial stability. After some recovery time I hope to continue my university education with better coping skills in place to stay healthy and focused. I would greatly appreciate a clean slate when I decide to do this so that this troubled semester can remain in the past and not have permanent negative affects on my future.
After leaving Queens I was in a very delicate emotional/mental state and wasn't able to face what had happened over the past couple months without considerable distress and mental health regression. As a result of this it was recommended by my life coach to try and heal by simply moving forward with life until I was able to write a proper appeal. Unfortunately I was unaware of the 21-day appeal deadline. When I found out during my first attempt at writing this appeal I was so discouraged (also compounded by tech issues uploading supporting documentation which persists) that I made the rash decision that there was no chance with it being so late. I still am not convinced this isn't the case but I am at the point now where I know I couldn't forgive myself if I did not, at the very least, try. I'm sorry the last paragraph was more a personal than professional but it is the absolute truth and needed to be said.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Ariel Deverill-Lahtinen
Also, this site will not let me attach any of the documentation that I have at the moment (as mentioned). I am trying to figure out how to get around this but I am not sure how as of yet.