Petition Letter
Academic Appeal Letter
Shannon Vafapisheh
10073079
To the Associate Dean (Studies),
I am writing this appeal to request to drop the following Fall 2014 courses: FILM 240, and HLTH 230 because of the ongoing extenuating circumstances that have not only worsened over the following months but have prevented me from continuing my studies this semester.
Over the year I have been experiencing severe depression that has taken a toll on my health and affected my ability to study. It had begun in the fall of 2013 and has reached its peak recently, to the point where it is now a medical emergency. I am constantly feeling at risk of self-harm and have experienced an increase in active thoughts. Despite being able to get out of bed each day, there is this constant fear of hopelessness that looms over me to the point where I feel as if I have no choice but to act on these thoughts. I have found that these thoughts constantly occupy my mind and make it difficult to focus on school let alone have any motivation to attend class. My school workload has only since then piled up, but has been almost impossible to catch up with. I realized this was becoming an issue and took a step by greatly reduced my full course load this semester to only two courses before the dropping period. However, I did not anticipate how serious and extenuating this depression was quickly becoming that even just the two courses were far too difficult. My thoughts were taking so much energy out of me mentally, that school did not even become a top priority anymore. Keeping myself safe was. My depression took a turn for the worse, when I recently decided to act on one of these active and knew that I had to withdraw from school immediately if I wanted to get better. Unfortunately, it was also late into November and I could not drop the two courses I was still in without academic penalty. I knew my academics were suffering a great deal and pushing myself to just continue with my studies was not the answer. In the past I have taken some steps to deal with this depression with little success. I have been attending counselling provided here at Queens since last year. I was also on Cipralex an antidepressant that I began taking in December of last year to the following May. I reacted really badly to the medication and stopped taking it out of fear and it only affected my schoolwork further. The situation was now becoming beyond my control.
I strongly believe by granting my appeal it will tremendously help me get better not only mentally and academically as well. The extenuating circumstances have just been too severe and on going that I really do not want them to have any impact on my grades including this fall. After months of trying to cope, seek help, and take medication, I have finally made the decision to withdraw from school for the following winter term and focus on my personal health. I plan on using this time to go through extensive self-care. I will move back home and live with my parents during this time, where I can be monitored closely by them and kept safe away from harm. I recently have been prescribed a new antidepressant Zoloft that I plan to start immediately. In addition I have made an appointment with my family doctor to monitor my medication and provide referrals for personal counselors that I can see weekly. By seeking a personal counselor, I feel like I will really be able to start dealing with the more deep-rooted issues of my depression and receive professional advice that I can benefit from. I want to also use my time away to not only get better, but also figure out what I want to do academically. This includes researching other programs that I am more interested in and would excel at, as well as developing good organizational and study habits that will aid me in the future. By taking this time off for personal care, getting the right medication, and setting small goals, I am confident that I will start to truly get better and prepare myself for great success academically when I return. It was not an easy decision, but I think this is the best decision I can make for myself and it is an opportunity to battle this depression and be more optimistic about the future. In the past I was always scared about not graduating fast enough and falling behind that I never put myself first. I firmly believe that this time around I will take the time I need to recover and comeback a healthier person and find great success in my studies.
Shannon Vafapisheh
10073079
To the Associate Dean (Studies),
I am writing this appeal to request to drop the following Fall 2014 courses: FILM 240, and HLTH 230 because of the ongoing extenuating circumstances that have not only worsened over the following months but have prevented me from continuing my studies this semester.
Over the year I have been experiencing severe depression that has taken a toll on my health and affected my ability to study. It had begun in the fall of 2013 and has reached its peak recently, to the point where it is now a medical emergency. I am constantly feeling at risk of self-harm and have experienced an increase in active thoughts. Despite being able to get out of bed each day, there is this constant fear of hopelessness that looms over me to the point where I feel as if I have no choice but to act on these thoughts. I have found that these thoughts constantly occupy my mind and make it difficult to focus on school let alone have any motivation to attend class. My school workload has only since then piled up, but has been almost impossible to catch up with. I realized this was becoming an issue and took a step by greatly reduced my full course load this semester to only two courses before the dropping period. However, I did not anticipate how serious and extenuating this depression was quickly becoming that even just the two courses were far too difficult. My thoughts were taking so much energy out of me mentally, that school did not even become a top priority anymore. Keeping myself safe was. My depression took a turn for the worse, when I recently decided to act on one of these active and knew that I had to withdraw from school immediately if I wanted to get better. Unfortunately, it was also late into November and I could not drop the two courses I was still in without academic penalty. I knew my academics were suffering a great deal and pushing myself to just continue with my studies was not the answer. In the past I have taken some steps to deal with this depression with little success. I have been attending counselling provided here at Queens since last year. I was also on Cipralex an antidepressant that I began taking in December of last year to the following May. I reacted really badly to the medication and stopped taking it out of fear and it only affected my schoolwork further. The situation was now becoming beyond my control.
I strongly believe by granting my appeal it will tremendously help me get better not only mentally and academically as well. The extenuating circumstances have just been too severe and on going that I really do not want them to have any impact on my grades including this fall. After months of trying to cope, seek help, and take medication, I have finally made the decision to withdraw from school for the following winter term and focus on my personal health. I plan on using this time to go through extensive self-care. I will move back home and live with my parents during this time, where I can be monitored closely by them and kept safe away from harm. I recently have been prescribed a new antidepressant Zoloft that I plan to start immediately. In addition I have made an appointment with my family doctor to monitor my medication and provide referrals for personal counselors that I can see weekly. By seeking a personal counselor, I feel like I will really be able to start dealing with the more deep-rooted issues of my depression and receive professional advice that I can benefit from. I want to also use my time away to not only get better, but also figure out what I want to do academically. This includes researching other programs that I am more interested in and would excel at, as well as developing good organizational and study habits that will aid me in the future. By taking this time off for personal care, getting the right medication, and setting small goals, I am confident that I will start to truly get better and prepare myself for great success academically when I return. It was not an easy decision, but I think this is the best decision I can make for myself and it is an opportunity to battle this depression and be more optimistic about the future. In the past I was always scared about not graduating fast enough and falling behind that I never put myself first. I firmly believe that this time around I will take the time I need to recover and comeback a healthier person and find great success in my studies.