Petition Letter
Dear Academic Advisors,
My name is Navjeet Veghal. I'm sure there's a decent amount of these types of letters you must read. A decent number of stories and trying to come up with an appropriate academic decision concerning the individual. This letter is supposed to explain why I should continue my studies at Queens in the upcoming Fall/Winter semesters. Unfortunately, like many others, I don't have documentation from any of my doctors. I was told by an academic advisor I could proceed without any documentation from a professional, and I really hope this doesn't affect your final decision after reading my perspective on this matter. If you take a look at my transcript it's an obvious decision to withdraw me and to be fair, looking at it from third person, I would conclude similarly.
In first year, I attended BISC at Herstmonceux. It was a very big change in comparison to my high school, but I decided to experience something different. I started off doing very well and my motivation was at a maximum. After a couple of months, I started experiencing a depression in my academics and mental state. In high school I had a psychologist and a psychiatrist as I was diagnosed with panic disorder, anxiety, and ADHD. I didn't continue seeing my doctors and I soon stopped taking my medications. I found that I had done way better without the medication and support. I have been back and forth with support groups, trying to get to the bottom with what exactly what was wrong with me. I stayed seeing doctors for two years when I just realized enough was enough. I was an honours student within the first two years of high school before I was diagnosed with these mental illnesses. As one should do, I continued attending my psychologist appointments as well as keeping in contact with my psychiatrist. In grade 11 my grades dropped exponentially. My above average grades had dropped to extremely below average. The problem I personally had was not with the grades specifically, but with the fact that after the year was over, I didn't learn a single thing. In my last year of high school, I stopped the mind-numbing medications and stopped seeing my psychologist. Almost all of my experiences I had with the doctors never seemed to benefit me. I realized I couldn't change unless I really wanted to and unless I made the first step. In my last year of high school, I did the best I ever did, with the exception of first semester since I had to pick myself back up again from the previous year. I was told that my below average grades in the sciences and mathematics will ruin all of the chances I had to get into any post-secondary. It was heart breaking to hear because I lived my whole life loving science and math. I loved learning, I didn't care about my grades, I just wanted to learn. I aced my grade 12 courses and ended up attending Queens university. Similarly, I found myself stuck in this never-ending cycle.
In first year, I saw the psycho-therapist at BISC and was roughly diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. It was a real shock to me, but I saw the similarities. I was stuck in this mindset that since I was diagnosed with autism, it gave me the excuse to continue acting the way I was. I was extremely close to getting a withdrawal in first year. I tried hard to pick myself back up again. I realized the issue I had was that every time I received help, I took advantage of it. No matter what new label I had, I just kept thinking of it as an excuse. No matter how many extensions I got, I still never completed the work. My exact issue within university was, that I never had the motivation to get up and actually finish my assignments and homework problems. When it came down to it, I could easily learn 2 month's worth of a course within two days for an exam. I realized that it was not good enough to pass or do the best I could within a course.
Ever since I was a child, I always worked smart, I never knew how to work hard. I knew I was on academic probation coming into my second year. Most academic advisors advised me to go to student services, get the help that I needed. This time, I didn't. I felt sick of everything, nothing ever seemed to help. I knew I couldn't judge all of this off of one bad experience with the doctors. At this point, everything seemed so repetitive, nothing could help someone like me. I couldn't fit into any label. It wasn't that I couldn't learn, I knew deep down I could do 10 times better than what I was doing. My problem was not finishing my work. After first semester, I was mortified looking at my fall term marks. I knew what was about to happen. I deserved it. Most of my courses were full year. I had already tainted my chances of changing anything major with these marks. I was embarrassed that I messed up once more, the fact I couldn't take anything seriously. Second semester, I had a rebellious type of mind set. Of course, my reversed mentality kicked in, and instead of taking a lighter course load, I ended up adding two more. The reason being was, I thought that I was going to get withdrawal one way or another, there's absolutely nothing I could do. So, I ended up taking an extra two courses that I had an interest in. At this point, I wanted to leave Queens knowing I actually learned something. To at least prove to myself that I was worth being in my dream university. I went in to talk to some of my professors. I explained my situation, and I received a crucial amount of support, that I will always be grateful for.
Explaining my situation to people is hard. Everybody sees me in different perspectives. Either I'm a lazy student who doesn't care about academics, or I'm just a lost demotivated student who has no idea where I'm going. Spending time with my professors, they learned the type of student I was. Slowly, without realizing it, in my last semester, I developed so many methods and skills to help me learn with the class, rather than racing to learn everything before an exam. My grades improved in specific classes. Although it was an extreme change for me, I managed to change more than I expected to. I learned more than I thought I would, both academically and personally. I guess it wouldn't show on my transcript since my first semester was incredibly bad, but I know deep down I changed. One of my professors thought of me as an outlier. Someone who doesn't really fit in with the trend of the other students.
My concern was never being the best in the class or getting straight A's. I just wanted to learn, I loved the essence of mathematics and the sciences. At home, I would always learn new theories on my own, I even started writing a paper. My passion has always been to just learn, no matter what grades I got. Of course, given that I knew what I was doing, the grades would automatically come with it. I was more than excited to finish the last of my exams. I was learning so much that I wish that I could just go back in time and ace it in the moment. I got news that my grandfather was extremely sick and in the hospital. I have never had anyone close to me get that sick before. I was in Kingston and my whole family was in Toronto. I was doing so good, but I didn't know how to continue with the given circumstances. I didn't know I could feel the ways I did in that moment. I don't know how I could've focused on school knowing there was nothing I could do 300 km away from home. I just wanted to go home.
Not sleeping for several days, really impacts performance. It might not show, but I've worked extremely hard to break my bad habits in the winter semester. I didn't want to fail chemistry for the 2nd time. I wanted to at least pass the lab component part, so I could retake it in summer school. Of course, that wasn't possible because I had none of my labs finished. I went in and talked to one of the lab coordinators, and by the slimmest of chances, got the opportunity to finish all of the 9 labs. The growth I had went through, aided me in completing all of the labs in the matter of a couple of days and surprisingly acing them.
I know I belong in university. I might have not made the right decisions in the beginning, but I know I have grown a lot. If I stop now, I have no idea what will happen in the next 12 months. Everything I've developed, I don't want to lose. I want to keep moving. I feel confident enough to even say, before I start the fall term, whether it will be this year or next year, I could get my GPA up a significant amount, if not out of academic probation. I don't want to stop learning, I belong in this environment, I don't see myself doing anything else. I hope I can be given the chance to continue university in the upcoming Fall term, and this time, I want to be able to show my abilities and passion throughout the semester. I apologize for the lengthy letter, I needed to really express my situation and how much this means to me. Thank you for your time.
Best,
Navjeet Veghal (20074183)
My name is Navjeet Veghal. I'm sure there's a decent amount of these types of letters you must read. A decent number of stories and trying to come up with an appropriate academic decision concerning the individual. This letter is supposed to explain why I should continue my studies at Queens in the upcoming Fall/Winter semesters. Unfortunately, like many others, I don't have documentation from any of my doctors. I was told by an academic advisor I could proceed without any documentation from a professional, and I really hope this doesn't affect your final decision after reading my perspective on this matter. If you take a look at my transcript it's an obvious decision to withdraw me and to be fair, looking at it from third person, I would conclude similarly.
In first year, I attended BISC at Herstmonceux. It was a very big change in comparison to my high school, but I decided to experience something different. I started off doing very well and my motivation was at a maximum. After a couple of months, I started experiencing a depression in my academics and mental state. In high school I had a psychologist and a psychiatrist as I was diagnosed with panic disorder, anxiety, and ADHD. I didn't continue seeing my doctors and I soon stopped taking my medications. I found that I had done way better without the medication and support. I have been back and forth with support groups, trying to get to the bottom with what exactly what was wrong with me. I stayed seeing doctors for two years when I just realized enough was enough. I was an honours student within the first two years of high school before I was diagnosed with these mental illnesses. As one should do, I continued attending my psychologist appointments as well as keeping in contact with my psychiatrist. In grade 11 my grades dropped exponentially. My above average grades had dropped to extremely below average. The problem I personally had was not with the grades specifically, but with the fact that after the year was over, I didn't learn a single thing. In my last year of high school, I stopped the mind-numbing medications and stopped seeing my psychologist. Almost all of my experiences I had with the doctors never seemed to benefit me. I realized I couldn't change unless I really wanted to and unless I made the first step. In my last year of high school, I did the best I ever did, with the exception of first semester since I had to pick myself back up again from the previous year. I was told that my below average grades in the sciences and mathematics will ruin all of the chances I had to get into any post-secondary. It was heart breaking to hear because I lived my whole life loving science and math. I loved learning, I didn't care about my grades, I just wanted to learn. I aced my grade 12 courses and ended up attending Queens university. Similarly, I found myself stuck in this never-ending cycle.
In first year, I saw the psycho-therapist at BISC and was roughly diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. It was a real shock to me, but I saw the similarities. I was stuck in this mindset that since I was diagnosed with autism, it gave me the excuse to continue acting the way I was. I was extremely close to getting a withdrawal in first year. I tried hard to pick myself back up again. I realized the issue I had was that every time I received help, I took advantage of it. No matter what new label I had, I just kept thinking of it as an excuse. No matter how many extensions I got, I still never completed the work. My exact issue within university was, that I never had the motivation to get up and actually finish my assignments and homework problems. When it came down to it, I could easily learn 2 month's worth of a course within two days for an exam. I realized that it was not good enough to pass or do the best I could within a course.
Ever since I was a child, I always worked smart, I never knew how to work hard. I knew I was on academic probation coming into my second year. Most academic advisors advised me to go to student services, get the help that I needed. This time, I didn't. I felt sick of everything, nothing ever seemed to help. I knew I couldn't judge all of this off of one bad experience with the doctors. At this point, everything seemed so repetitive, nothing could help someone like me. I couldn't fit into any label. It wasn't that I couldn't learn, I knew deep down I could do 10 times better than what I was doing. My problem was not finishing my work. After first semester, I was mortified looking at my fall term marks. I knew what was about to happen. I deserved it. Most of my courses were full year. I had already tainted my chances of changing anything major with these marks. I was embarrassed that I messed up once more, the fact I couldn't take anything seriously. Second semester, I had a rebellious type of mind set. Of course, my reversed mentality kicked in, and instead of taking a lighter course load, I ended up adding two more. The reason being was, I thought that I was going to get withdrawal one way or another, there's absolutely nothing I could do. So, I ended up taking an extra two courses that I had an interest in. At this point, I wanted to leave Queens knowing I actually learned something. To at least prove to myself that I was worth being in my dream university. I went in to talk to some of my professors. I explained my situation, and I received a crucial amount of support, that I will always be grateful for.
Explaining my situation to people is hard. Everybody sees me in different perspectives. Either I'm a lazy student who doesn't care about academics, or I'm just a lost demotivated student who has no idea where I'm going. Spending time with my professors, they learned the type of student I was. Slowly, without realizing it, in my last semester, I developed so many methods and skills to help me learn with the class, rather than racing to learn everything before an exam. My grades improved in specific classes. Although it was an extreme change for me, I managed to change more than I expected to. I learned more than I thought I would, both academically and personally. I guess it wouldn't show on my transcript since my first semester was incredibly bad, but I know deep down I changed. One of my professors thought of me as an outlier. Someone who doesn't really fit in with the trend of the other students.
My concern was never being the best in the class or getting straight A's. I just wanted to learn, I loved the essence of mathematics and the sciences. At home, I would always learn new theories on my own, I even started writing a paper. My passion has always been to just learn, no matter what grades I got. Of course, given that I knew what I was doing, the grades would automatically come with it. I was more than excited to finish the last of my exams. I was learning so much that I wish that I could just go back in time and ace it in the moment. I got news that my grandfather was extremely sick and in the hospital. I have never had anyone close to me get that sick before. I was in Kingston and my whole family was in Toronto. I was doing so good, but I didn't know how to continue with the given circumstances. I didn't know I could feel the ways I did in that moment. I don't know how I could've focused on school knowing there was nothing I could do 300 km away from home. I just wanted to go home.
Not sleeping for several days, really impacts performance. It might not show, but I've worked extremely hard to break my bad habits in the winter semester. I didn't want to fail chemistry for the 2nd time. I wanted to at least pass the lab component part, so I could retake it in summer school. Of course, that wasn't possible because I had none of my labs finished. I went in and talked to one of the lab coordinators, and by the slimmest of chances, got the opportunity to finish all of the 9 labs. The growth I had went through, aided me in completing all of the labs in the matter of a couple of days and surprisingly acing them.
I know I belong in university. I might have not made the right decisions in the beginning, but I know I have grown a lot. If I stop now, I have no idea what will happen in the next 12 months. Everything I've developed, I don't want to lose. I want to keep moving. I feel confident enough to even say, before I start the fall term, whether it will be this year or next year, I could get my GPA up a significant amount, if not out of academic probation. I don't want to stop learning, I belong in this environment, I don't see myself doing anything else. I hope I can be given the chance to continue university in the upcoming Fall term, and this time, I want to be able to show my abilities and passion throughout the semester. I apologize for the lengthy letter, I needed to really express my situation and how much this means to me. Thank you for your time.
Best,
Navjeet Veghal (20074183)