Petition Letter
To Associate Dean (Studies),
My name is Brittney Whalen and I am currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) program with a major in History. Over my last few years of study, I have unfortunately been plagued with extenuating circumstances that have directly impacted my ability to attend classes and complete coursework resulting in numerous failed courses. I am currently appealing to waive the 21 days/one term deadlines on academic appeals so I can submit my course appeals and hopefully continue on with my studies.
I began noticing changes in my work ethic and moods around the end of my second year of study but it really wasn¿¿t until I finished my third year with multiple failed courses that I really knew that my mental health was severely impacting my school work. I hoped that through a change in scenery and my leaving my position as an executive of the Residence Society that I would be able to relieve some stress and hopefully regain the ground I had lost over the previous year. Unfortunately, my mental health problems were greater than I had initially thought and I continued on the downward spiral I had already set myself on. By the end of my fourth year, I had been completely unsuccessful in every class I attempted that year. I then decided that I needed to make some changes and I went for a mental health assessment at HCDS where it became clear that depression and anxiety had been playing an important role in my lack of academic progress. I took some steps towards understanding my mental illness throughout the summer of 2016 but once I began my fifth year I realised that I had unfortunately not put my academic problems behind me and the anxiety I felt from the previous years of study coupled with the building pressure of trying to tackle my mental health led to yet another unsuccessful academic year. I then decided to take a break from my studies and return to my hometown to seek treatment and work towards finding mechanisms to help me cope with the stressors of school and life. I have recently come to terms with my mental illness and have finally seen improvements in my mental health along with reduced periods of anxiety-driven avoidance of important tasks.
Looking back on my last few years of study, I can now understand the cycles of anxiety and depression that prevented me from moving forward in my degree and have been working on coping mechanisms to prevent falling back into the avoidance tactics that characterised my mental illness in the past. One of the biggest stressors for me in regard to my academics was attending lectures and the pressure I would put on myself to already understand my lectures and study topics before I even attended classes. I felt that if I couldn¿¿t come to class and already be the most prepared person in the room by understanding the intricacies of the topics we were studying that I was an unsuccessful student and I was better off missing lecture than embarrassing myself. This pressure only built as the semester went on as I had more and more missed lectures that I felt that I needed to study and understand before I would be able to return to classes. The pressure I put on myself to be the perfect student was, in reality, a way to enforce impossibly high standards making it easier for me to avoid stressful situations. These behaviours only got worse and worse as the semesters went on and it became increasingly difficult for me to face the building pressure until even coming to campus was filled with anxiety and fear.
Coupled with my avoidance of classes, I was also unable to take steps towards rectifying the mistakes I had made in previous semesters as the thought of going through an appeals process seemed almost like an impossible future that I would tackle once I had the strength to face the building pressure of my academics. Throughout the last few months, I have been working towards facing the wall of fear that I placed around my schooling and I finally feel like I am in a place to not only appeal my failed classes but also to continue my studies and finally complete the last few classes I need to acquire my degree. Thank you for your time and consideration regarding my appeal and I hope to hear back soon.
Sincerely,
Brittney Whalen
My name is Brittney Whalen and I am currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) program with a major in History. Over my last few years of study, I have unfortunately been plagued with extenuating circumstances that have directly impacted my ability to attend classes and complete coursework resulting in numerous failed courses. I am currently appealing to waive the 21 days/one term deadlines on academic appeals so I can submit my course appeals and hopefully continue on with my studies.
I began noticing changes in my work ethic and moods around the end of my second year of study but it really wasn¿¿t until I finished my third year with multiple failed courses that I really knew that my mental health was severely impacting my school work. I hoped that through a change in scenery and my leaving my position as an executive of the Residence Society that I would be able to relieve some stress and hopefully regain the ground I had lost over the previous year. Unfortunately, my mental health problems were greater than I had initially thought and I continued on the downward spiral I had already set myself on. By the end of my fourth year, I had been completely unsuccessful in every class I attempted that year. I then decided that I needed to make some changes and I went for a mental health assessment at HCDS where it became clear that depression and anxiety had been playing an important role in my lack of academic progress. I took some steps towards understanding my mental illness throughout the summer of 2016 but once I began my fifth year I realised that I had unfortunately not put my academic problems behind me and the anxiety I felt from the previous years of study coupled with the building pressure of trying to tackle my mental health led to yet another unsuccessful academic year. I then decided to take a break from my studies and return to my hometown to seek treatment and work towards finding mechanisms to help me cope with the stressors of school and life. I have recently come to terms with my mental illness and have finally seen improvements in my mental health along with reduced periods of anxiety-driven avoidance of important tasks.
Looking back on my last few years of study, I can now understand the cycles of anxiety and depression that prevented me from moving forward in my degree and have been working on coping mechanisms to prevent falling back into the avoidance tactics that characterised my mental illness in the past. One of the biggest stressors for me in regard to my academics was attending lectures and the pressure I would put on myself to already understand my lectures and study topics before I even attended classes. I felt that if I couldn¿¿t come to class and already be the most prepared person in the room by understanding the intricacies of the topics we were studying that I was an unsuccessful student and I was better off missing lecture than embarrassing myself. This pressure only built as the semester went on as I had more and more missed lectures that I felt that I needed to study and understand before I would be able to return to classes. The pressure I put on myself to be the perfect student was, in reality, a way to enforce impossibly high standards making it easier for me to avoid stressful situations. These behaviours only got worse and worse as the semesters went on and it became increasingly difficult for me to face the building pressure until even coming to campus was filled with anxiety and fear.
Coupled with my avoidance of classes, I was also unable to take steps towards rectifying the mistakes I had made in previous semesters as the thought of going through an appeals process seemed almost like an impossible future that I would tackle once I had the strength to face the building pressure of my academics. Throughout the last few months, I have been working towards facing the wall of fear that I placed around my schooling and I finally feel like I am in a place to not only appeal my failed classes but also to continue my studies and finally complete the last few classes I need to acquire my degree. Thank you for your time and consideration regarding my appeal and I hope to hear back soon.
Sincerely,
Brittney Whalen