Petition Letter
Dear Faculty of Arts & Science,
I am requesting to extend an incomplete grade for my DEVS 492. I am currently a Fifth year Global Development student. For the course of nine months, I have been overwhelmed with my own mental health, which has caused my academics, work life, and social life to suffer. Nearing the end of the fall term of 2018, and the beginning of winter term of 2019, I began to realize my concentration significantly dropping, in addition to my willingness to attend class and socialize. I dropped 2 courses in the winter term in order to try and calm my mind and focus more on a small amount of courses. While I worked hard during the winter term, I realized my marks were slightly lower than the previous semester, despite more time available to focus on my academics. As the semester went on, I began to feel more anxious and emotional, essentially asking for a number of extensions, especially in my DEVS 492 course.
As spring approached, my friends noticed a shift in my personality. I was constantly crying, screaming, or panicking asking my parents to drive up from Niagara Falls a number of times in order to comfort me and demanding a lot of emotional support from my friends at Queen¿¿s. My emotions began to drastically affect my school, forcing me to apply for a 3-month extension for extenuating circumstances, which I hoped would give me ample time to collect my thoughts and feelings, spend some time at home, and establish a new environment to focus on my final paper for DEVS 492.
While I was granted an extension due to extenuating circumstances for the summer term, my anxiety levels did not lower. I began to be less social at work, and was not performing as well as I had in my previous years. I took an unreasonable amount of sick days, to the point where I lied about having food poisoning as an excuse to be home alone. My summer also included a few visits to my doctor, DR Roelfsema, as well as telephone sessions with a mental health counsellor, Cindy Pugh-Ledl. As the summer went on, my parents concern for me grew and we eventually decided that I would quit my job and move home, as my work place was in Toronto, but my family lives in Niagara Falls. While my time at home gave me ample opportunity to use my free time to write my essay, I was still unable to focus and continued to spend time in front of my computer staring in front of the blank screen. My summer included a lot of broken plans, crying, screaming, nausea, self-induced isolation and comfort from my parents and brother. I¿¿ve gotten to the point where I realize I¿¿ve caused a lot of emotional burden on my friends and family and I am actively seeking steps to relax and return back to my ¿¿normal¿ state of mind. I have recently been slacking on my therapy sessions with my mental health councillor, but I have promised myself I will continue to speak with her and have made more of an effort with my friends. My academics are very important to me and I am trying my hardest to make a good impression on my professors and make it to grad school. I am currently very worried about my academic standing if I am not able to get in my final assignment for DEVS 492 and I would really appreciate the opportunity to submit a successful paper and have a grade that positively contributes to my GPA. While I will not outline my specific feelings and thought processes, I hope my letter has accurately outlined my out-of character behaviours for the past nine months and the negative affect it has had on myself, my friends, and my family. Thank you for the opportunity to demonstrate my academic potential.
Kind regards,
Serene Nekoui
I am requesting to extend an incomplete grade for my DEVS 492. I am currently a Fifth year Global Development student. For the course of nine months, I have been overwhelmed with my own mental health, which has caused my academics, work life, and social life to suffer. Nearing the end of the fall term of 2018, and the beginning of winter term of 2019, I began to realize my concentration significantly dropping, in addition to my willingness to attend class and socialize. I dropped 2 courses in the winter term in order to try and calm my mind and focus more on a small amount of courses. While I worked hard during the winter term, I realized my marks were slightly lower than the previous semester, despite more time available to focus on my academics. As the semester went on, I began to feel more anxious and emotional, essentially asking for a number of extensions, especially in my DEVS 492 course.
As spring approached, my friends noticed a shift in my personality. I was constantly crying, screaming, or panicking asking my parents to drive up from Niagara Falls a number of times in order to comfort me and demanding a lot of emotional support from my friends at Queen¿¿s. My emotions began to drastically affect my school, forcing me to apply for a 3-month extension for extenuating circumstances, which I hoped would give me ample time to collect my thoughts and feelings, spend some time at home, and establish a new environment to focus on my final paper for DEVS 492.
While I was granted an extension due to extenuating circumstances for the summer term, my anxiety levels did not lower. I began to be less social at work, and was not performing as well as I had in my previous years. I took an unreasonable amount of sick days, to the point where I lied about having food poisoning as an excuse to be home alone. My summer also included a few visits to my doctor, DR Roelfsema, as well as telephone sessions with a mental health counsellor, Cindy Pugh-Ledl. As the summer went on, my parents concern for me grew and we eventually decided that I would quit my job and move home, as my work place was in Toronto, but my family lives in Niagara Falls. While my time at home gave me ample opportunity to use my free time to write my essay, I was still unable to focus and continued to spend time in front of my computer staring in front of the blank screen. My summer included a lot of broken plans, crying, screaming, nausea, self-induced isolation and comfort from my parents and brother. I¿¿ve gotten to the point where I realize I¿¿ve caused a lot of emotional burden on my friends and family and I am actively seeking steps to relax and return back to my ¿¿normal¿ state of mind. I have recently been slacking on my therapy sessions with my mental health councillor, but I have promised myself I will continue to speak with her and have made more of an effort with my friends. My academics are very important to me and I am trying my hardest to make a good impression on my professors and make it to grad school. I am currently very worried about my academic standing if I am not able to get in my final assignment for DEVS 492 and I would really appreciate the opportunity to submit a successful paper and have a grade that positively contributes to my GPA. While I will not outline my specific feelings and thought processes, I hope my letter has accurately outlined my out-of character behaviours for the past nine months and the negative affect it has had on myself, my friends, and my family. Thank you for the opportunity to demonstrate my academic potential.
Kind regards,
Serene Nekoui