Petition Letter
February 4, 2020
Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,
I am writing to you to be able to add a course, BMED 373 (Health Ethics, Law, and Policy), after the academic deadline has passed. The course¿¿s instructor, Dr. Cheryl Cline, has indicated that she is okay with me picking up the class (please see email records of this attached).
For the first few years of my academic career, I struggled severely, which can be clearly seen on my transcript. This cannot be explained by one extenuating circumstance, but instead was a product of my extremely poor mental health, rough living conditions, financial strain, and a struggle with personal relationships. I had to drop a course and I even thought about leaving university. My GPA as of this spring was approximately a 2.3.
Fortunately, I was able to access health care at Queen¿¿s that included counselling and prescriptions for medications related to my mental health concerns. My family became more financially secure and I was able to move into my own apartment, alleviating many of the stressors I had been facing. I am not presenting the prior part of my ¿story¿¿ as an excuse or the latter part as a ¿solution¿¿, because certainly my academic and professional success is my own responsibility and, of course, no one is ever ¿solved.¿¿ That being said, I was able to overcome many of the obstacles I was facing, resulting in a GPA from the last two semesters of a 3.8.
This recent extra hard work and resulting success has led me to feel like my biggest career aspiration of becoming a medical doctor is finally in reach. I am elated that two Canadian medical schools (Queen¿¿s and the University of Western Ontario), consider your best two years of studies, instead of your entire undergraduate degree. I am planning on completing a fifth year of studies, so my fourth and fifth years would be the years for their consideration. This is an outstanding opportunity for a career in which I can help individuals who have struggled like myself.
That being said, UWO¿¿s medical program requires that three of my five courses each semester in fourth year be at or greater than a 300 level. Please find attached a screenshot indicating this requirement and a clarification email that I sent to the admissions office at UWO. Due to a mix of circumstances, including those outlined above, when picking courses this summer for Winter 2020, I added mostly second year courses in my winter semester. For example, I require a chemistry requirement for Biology so am taking CHEM 222, I am hoping to pursue a Psychology minor so am taking PSYC 205, and have a younger sister in her first year of Arts, so we are taking GNDS 125 together. These courses are in addition to my Honours Thesis, BIOL 537. I am explaining these examples in order to indicate that my intention was not to pick up ¿¿bird courses¿ or intentionally have an easy semester. I am extremely dedicated to my learning and passionate about a career in the health sector. Now that I feel like I am so close to achieving this goal, I would be extremely disappointed to have one course requirement keep me from pursuing it.
This was not a requirement that was on the forefront of my mind as I have been completing school work around the clock, in addition to working two part time jobs, fulfilling my duties as the Executive Director of Telephone Aid Line Kingston, and completing other volunteer positions such as Event Director at parkrun, a community 5k event, and as a Resume Coach at Career Services. In the last month, I have also additionally suffered from the break-in to my apartment while I was asleep and the death of a pet, both with added additional emotional and financial strain. I am not trying to make excuses for my tardiness in realizing this crucial graduate requirement, however just trying to share that, on top of personal health concerns, I am doing my best to improve the Kingston community and be able to contribute financially to my education.
When I first started seeing a counsellor at Student Wellness Services and I shared my ¿pipe dream¿¿ of becoming a medical doctor, she said that: ¿¿Those that have struggled themselves make the best health care professionals because they can truly empathize.¿ I promise that I am working day and night to achieve exceptional grades, while maintaining my extracurriculars. I would love the opportunity, with your help, to continue to chase this ¿pipe dream¿¿ that is becoming closer and closer to reality.
Sincerely,
Megan Clemens
Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,
I am writing to you to be able to add a course, BMED 373 (Health Ethics, Law, and Policy), after the academic deadline has passed. The course¿¿s instructor, Dr. Cheryl Cline, has indicated that she is okay with me picking up the class (please see email records of this attached).
For the first few years of my academic career, I struggled severely, which can be clearly seen on my transcript. This cannot be explained by one extenuating circumstance, but instead was a product of my extremely poor mental health, rough living conditions, financial strain, and a struggle with personal relationships. I had to drop a course and I even thought about leaving university. My GPA as of this spring was approximately a 2.3.
Fortunately, I was able to access health care at Queen¿¿s that included counselling and prescriptions for medications related to my mental health concerns. My family became more financially secure and I was able to move into my own apartment, alleviating many of the stressors I had been facing. I am not presenting the prior part of my ¿story¿¿ as an excuse or the latter part as a ¿solution¿¿, because certainly my academic and professional success is my own responsibility and, of course, no one is ever ¿solved.¿¿ That being said, I was able to overcome many of the obstacles I was facing, resulting in a GPA from the last two semesters of a 3.8.
This recent extra hard work and resulting success has led me to feel like my biggest career aspiration of becoming a medical doctor is finally in reach. I am elated that two Canadian medical schools (Queen¿¿s and the University of Western Ontario), consider your best two years of studies, instead of your entire undergraduate degree. I am planning on completing a fifth year of studies, so my fourth and fifth years would be the years for their consideration. This is an outstanding opportunity for a career in which I can help individuals who have struggled like myself.
That being said, UWO¿¿s medical program requires that three of my five courses each semester in fourth year be at or greater than a 300 level. Please find attached a screenshot indicating this requirement and a clarification email that I sent to the admissions office at UWO. Due to a mix of circumstances, including those outlined above, when picking courses this summer for Winter 2020, I added mostly second year courses in my winter semester. For example, I require a chemistry requirement for Biology so am taking CHEM 222, I am hoping to pursue a Psychology minor so am taking PSYC 205, and have a younger sister in her first year of Arts, so we are taking GNDS 125 together. These courses are in addition to my Honours Thesis, BIOL 537. I am explaining these examples in order to indicate that my intention was not to pick up ¿¿bird courses¿ or intentionally have an easy semester. I am extremely dedicated to my learning and passionate about a career in the health sector. Now that I feel like I am so close to achieving this goal, I would be extremely disappointed to have one course requirement keep me from pursuing it.
This was not a requirement that was on the forefront of my mind as I have been completing school work around the clock, in addition to working two part time jobs, fulfilling my duties as the Executive Director of Telephone Aid Line Kingston, and completing other volunteer positions such as Event Director at parkrun, a community 5k event, and as a Resume Coach at Career Services. In the last month, I have also additionally suffered from the break-in to my apartment while I was asleep and the death of a pet, both with added additional emotional and financial strain. I am not trying to make excuses for my tardiness in realizing this crucial graduate requirement, however just trying to share that, on top of personal health concerns, I am doing my best to improve the Kingston community and be able to contribute financially to my education.
When I first started seeing a counsellor at Student Wellness Services and I shared my ¿pipe dream¿¿ of becoming a medical doctor, she said that: ¿¿Those that have struggled themselves make the best health care professionals because they can truly empathize.¿ I promise that I am working day and night to achieve exceptional grades, while maintaining my extracurriculars. I would love the opportunity, with your help, to continue to chase this ¿pipe dream¿¿ that is becoming closer and closer to reality.
Sincerely,
Megan Clemens