Petition Letter
Dear Associate Dean,
My name is Emily Wilson and in January of 2015 I was severely sexually assaulted by two men. Over the course of the next six months, leading up to my enrolment at Queens University I suffered tremendously. I did not seek help or tell anyone about what had happened to me. Confused as to what I should do, I came into Queens with an open-mind and an optimistic outlook for the future. It was an extremely hard adjustment for me, I was placed in a triple room where one of my room mates and my self were severely bullied by the third individual. Adding on to my traumatizing event, I went from a straight A student in high school to someone I did not know anymore. I found it impossible to focus, every night I would have horrific nightmares, I became so anxious that I would go days without completing any work or eating. Adding on to my own mental health problems I was avoiding my room as much as I could so that I did not have to encounter the events that took place in there. This resulted in my decision to move into a single room at the beginning of my second semester. I thought that moving rooms would solve all of my problems but instead they progressively got worse. I did not seek help during my first year of university because I was ashamed of what had happened to me and believed that no one would understand what I was going through. After receiving my first semester grades I was so disappointed with my self and had no hope for the future. Almost all of my grades were affected except for the two health courses that I hope to major in this year. My second semester did not get any better, I was emotionally and physically exhausted due to keeping all of my emotions inside of me and not seeking help. After my first year at Queen's University I was placed on Academic Probation where I was so disappointed in my self that words can not even explain the feeling that overcame me. Over the summer I had lost my self completely, not knowing who I was anymore and wondering how I could go back to being my self. Starting my second year at Queens I new that something had to change. Within the first month of school I asked for help from the counselling services and have been seeing a counsellor once a week who specializes in sexual assault, I frequently meet with a doctor I started seeing this year as well. After multiple tests, I was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and an anxiety disorder. Since last year, I am now medicated, speaking about my past and working on steps to move forward, and can honestly say that I am proud of my actions. I did not appeal my grades within the 21 days last year because I did not know that this was even an option, nor did I feel confident in my self to talk about the traumatic event that I encountered and discuss the mental effects that it had on me. With the procedures that I have taken, I can assure to you that I am trying extremely hard to prevent this from happening again. My grades last year do not truly represent who I am and what I have to offer, and this is why I am asking you to please consider me for this appeal process.
Sincerely,
Emily Wilson
My name is Emily Wilson and in January of 2015 I was severely sexually assaulted by two men. Over the course of the next six months, leading up to my enrolment at Queens University I suffered tremendously. I did not seek help or tell anyone about what had happened to me. Confused as to what I should do, I came into Queens with an open-mind and an optimistic outlook for the future. It was an extremely hard adjustment for me, I was placed in a triple room where one of my room mates and my self were severely bullied by the third individual. Adding on to my traumatizing event, I went from a straight A student in high school to someone I did not know anymore. I found it impossible to focus, every night I would have horrific nightmares, I became so anxious that I would go days without completing any work or eating. Adding on to my own mental health problems I was avoiding my room as much as I could so that I did not have to encounter the events that took place in there. This resulted in my decision to move into a single room at the beginning of my second semester. I thought that moving rooms would solve all of my problems but instead they progressively got worse. I did not seek help during my first year of university because I was ashamed of what had happened to me and believed that no one would understand what I was going through. After receiving my first semester grades I was so disappointed with my self and had no hope for the future. Almost all of my grades were affected except for the two health courses that I hope to major in this year. My second semester did not get any better, I was emotionally and physically exhausted due to keeping all of my emotions inside of me and not seeking help. After my first year at Queen's University I was placed on Academic Probation where I was so disappointed in my self that words can not even explain the feeling that overcame me. Over the summer I had lost my self completely, not knowing who I was anymore and wondering how I could go back to being my self. Starting my second year at Queens I new that something had to change. Within the first month of school I asked for help from the counselling services and have been seeing a counsellor once a week who specializes in sexual assault, I frequently meet with a doctor I started seeing this year as well. After multiple tests, I was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and an anxiety disorder. Since last year, I am now medicated, speaking about my past and working on steps to move forward, and can honestly say that I am proud of my actions. I did not appeal my grades within the 21 days last year because I did not know that this was even an option, nor did I feel confident in my self to talk about the traumatic event that I encountered and discuss the mental effects that it had on me. With the procedures that I have taken, I can assure to you that I am trying extremely hard to prevent this from happening again. My grades last year do not truly represent who I am and what I have to offer, and this is why I am asking you to please consider me for this appeal process.
Sincerely,
Emily Wilson