Petition Letter
Dear Dr. Johanne Bénard and Mrs. Everson,
I am a student in my fourth year of Concurrent Education as an English major. I am writing to you in the hopes that I may be approved to complete my fourth year courses away on permission through another university (uOttawa or Carleton). I plan on returning to Queen's for my fifth and final year.
I have not been in school since mid-November, 2016 in order to be at home in Ottawa. I made the decision to leave school for the current academic year because the state of my mental health made it too difficult to complete my studies. Normally, I am more than capable of completing my assignments and have passed almost all of my courses in good academic standing since first year. However, as a result of long term issues and the occurrence of specific incidents just before school started, I was unable to attend classes and complete assignments on time or with the same amount of effort and energy as before. Most of my days during the two and a half months at school consisted of poor appetite, very little sleep and very low and dangerous moods. Furthermore, I have always had a hard time adjusting to life in Kingston and found that to be an even more significant stressor on my body and mind during that time. I would go to Ottawa every weekend to relieve myself of the pressures and stress of school. My personal problems began to significantly affect my studies when I was assigned a short 750 word film review by one of my favourite professors, Dr. Petra Fachinger, in one of my most enjoyable courses, ENGL482, Indigenous Literatures. This is when I began to feel alarmed about my inability to exert any control on my academics even for classes that are extremely important and enjoyable to me. It took me almost two months past the deadline to finish. The latter half of this assignment's completion was done while I was in Ottawa and still proved to be a struggle. In addition to my struggles in ENGL482, I stopped going to my FREN320 seminars and neglected all other readings in my courses.
In the midst of these obstacles, I decided to meet with Sarah Horsford, the faculty of Education's counsellor, and Spring Forsberg, the academic advisor for Arts and Science students. I came to the conclusion that taking time off would be best so that I do not compromise my grades or my health.
Since then, I have seen my doctor on multiple occasions, been diagnosed by a psychiatrist and will soon be starting medication alongside therapy. It has taken me this long to send the appeal because I had to wait until February 21st for my appointment with a psychiatrist and the written copy of her assessment. I felt that I needed the psychiatrist's assessment of me as a supporting document in order to validate my need for this appeal. Formally, I consent for you and the Appeals Coordinator to read my psychiatric assessment.
Overall, pursuing the next academic year in Kingston, at Queen's would take me away from the support systems I need to function properly. The lack of support combined with an alienating community would only make increase the dangers of my condition. I believe that staying in Ottawa will allow me the space and time necessary to recover while still fulfilling my goal of completing university.
Thank you,
Kiana Choi
10097915
I am a student in my fourth year of Concurrent Education as an English major. I am writing to you in the hopes that I may be approved to complete my fourth year courses away on permission through another university (uOttawa or Carleton). I plan on returning to Queen's for my fifth and final year.
I have not been in school since mid-November, 2016 in order to be at home in Ottawa. I made the decision to leave school for the current academic year because the state of my mental health made it too difficult to complete my studies. Normally, I am more than capable of completing my assignments and have passed almost all of my courses in good academic standing since first year. However, as a result of long term issues and the occurrence of specific incidents just before school started, I was unable to attend classes and complete assignments on time or with the same amount of effort and energy as before. Most of my days during the two and a half months at school consisted of poor appetite, very little sleep and very low and dangerous moods. Furthermore, I have always had a hard time adjusting to life in Kingston and found that to be an even more significant stressor on my body and mind during that time. I would go to Ottawa every weekend to relieve myself of the pressures and stress of school. My personal problems began to significantly affect my studies when I was assigned a short 750 word film review by one of my favourite professors, Dr. Petra Fachinger, in one of my most enjoyable courses, ENGL482, Indigenous Literatures. This is when I began to feel alarmed about my inability to exert any control on my academics even for classes that are extremely important and enjoyable to me. It took me almost two months past the deadline to finish. The latter half of this assignment's completion was done while I was in Ottawa and still proved to be a struggle. In addition to my struggles in ENGL482, I stopped going to my FREN320 seminars and neglected all other readings in my courses.
In the midst of these obstacles, I decided to meet with Sarah Horsford, the faculty of Education's counsellor, and Spring Forsberg, the academic advisor for Arts and Science students. I came to the conclusion that taking time off would be best so that I do not compromise my grades or my health.
Since then, I have seen my doctor on multiple occasions, been diagnosed by a psychiatrist and will soon be starting medication alongside therapy. It has taken me this long to send the appeal because I had to wait until February 21st for my appointment with a psychiatrist and the written copy of her assessment. I felt that I needed the psychiatrist's assessment of me as a supporting document in order to validate my need for this appeal. Formally, I consent for you and the Appeals Coordinator to read my psychiatric assessment.
Overall, pursuing the next academic year in Kingston, at Queen's would take me away from the support systems I need to function properly. The lack of support combined with an alienating community would only make increase the dangers of my condition. I believe that staying in Ottawa will allow me the space and time necessary to recover while still fulfilling my goal of completing university.
Thank you,
Kiana Choi
10097915