Petition Letter
Associate Dean,
I am appealing to drop HIST 124 and ENGL 100.
At the beginning of the winter semester my grandmother fell ill with a serious flu. She was in the hospital for a month and I thought I wasn¿¿t going to be able to see her again. All of my friends and family, including my grandmother, live in BC so it was extremely distressing to not be able to be home with my family at that time. Because of the stress caused by the situation it was extremely hard to keep up with my classes when I was so worried about my family back home. This horrible start to the semester sent me into a spiral. I fell further behind in my classes and it was almost impossible to get caught up. I was in a really dark place and so in early March I decided to make an appointment for a mental health evaluation but the earliest I could see a doctor was in April. The doctor said I was clearly dealing with depression and anxiety and prescribed me anti-depressants. I strongly believe because of the mental health issues I was dealing with over the semester and without being able to see my family while going through all of this, my academic ability was greatly affected. My depression made it almost impossible for me to focus in class and find motivation to work on my assignments, despite trying my hardest to do so. The reason mainly my ENGL 100 and HIST 124 classes were affected the most by this is because there were only essays and final exams for these classes, while my other classes consisted of smaller assignments and quizzes that were easier for me to deal with. The magnitude of each assignment in ENGL 100 and HIST 124 pushed my stress to an even higher level which then triggered my anxiety and depression which made it extremely difficult for me to complete the assignments
I plan to retake ENGL 100 online this summer. Although HIST 124 is not available online this summer I plan to take HIST 125 instead. I have already enrolled for the classes. I believe once I am home and able to see my family, as well as when my anti-depressants begin to take effect, I will be able to complete the classes at a much higher standard than I have been able to do this semester. When I am home I also plan to begin seeing a therapist so that I am able to better cope with my mental health issues next year. I do not believe my reason for not completing the classes had anything to do with the course content but purely because of my family issues and mental health issues. I will not be working for the first two months of the summer and will only be working part time in July so I will be fully dedicated to my studies. After I complete these courses I plan to declare my major in Global Development Studies.
Sincerely,
Emmalee Virs
I am appealing to drop HIST 124 and ENGL 100.
At the beginning of the winter semester my grandmother fell ill with a serious flu. She was in the hospital for a month and I thought I wasn¿¿t going to be able to see her again. All of my friends and family, including my grandmother, live in BC so it was extremely distressing to not be able to be home with my family at that time. Because of the stress caused by the situation it was extremely hard to keep up with my classes when I was so worried about my family back home. This horrible start to the semester sent me into a spiral. I fell further behind in my classes and it was almost impossible to get caught up. I was in a really dark place and so in early March I decided to make an appointment for a mental health evaluation but the earliest I could see a doctor was in April. The doctor said I was clearly dealing with depression and anxiety and prescribed me anti-depressants. I strongly believe because of the mental health issues I was dealing with over the semester and without being able to see my family while going through all of this, my academic ability was greatly affected. My depression made it almost impossible for me to focus in class and find motivation to work on my assignments, despite trying my hardest to do so. The reason mainly my ENGL 100 and HIST 124 classes were affected the most by this is because there were only essays and final exams for these classes, while my other classes consisted of smaller assignments and quizzes that were easier for me to deal with. The magnitude of each assignment in ENGL 100 and HIST 124 pushed my stress to an even higher level which then triggered my anxiety and depression which made it extremely difficult for me to complete the assignments
I plan to retake ENGL 100 online this summer. Although HIST 124 is not available online this summer I plan to take HIST 125 instead. I have already enrolled for the classes. I believe once I am home and able to see my family, as well as when my anti-depressants begin to take effect, I will be able to complete the classes at a much higher standard than I have been able to do this semester. When I am home I also plan to begin seeing a therapist so that I am able to better cope with my mental health issues next year. I do not believe my reason for not completing the classes had anything to do with the course content but purely because of my family issues and mental health issues. I will not be working for the first two months of the summer and will only be working part time in July so I will be fully dedicated to my studies. After I complete these courses I plan to declare my major in Global Development Studies.
Sincerely,
Emmalee Virs