Petition Letter
I have spent a few weeks asking myself how someone is supposed to begin entries like this. I am finding this task challenging, because difficult to try and paint a complex picture into an 800 word entry. The purpose of my appeal is to try and explain some of the extenuating circumstances I have endured over the past 2 years, and how they have negatively impacted my ability to succeed in an academic setting, particularly in my first semester of fourth year. In particular, the purpose of this appeal is to request a ¿credit standing¿¿ (CS) on my transcript instead of the final grade I received in SOCY 363.
The beginning of my journey with mental health begins a long time ago (perhaps longer than I am even aware of, as I have currently learned with an occupational therapist here at Queen¿¿s), but I think it really started to affect me in 2nd year. While there was no big life altering event that caused me to fall into a depression, there were a variety of events that contributed to my new reality. I can now acknowledge that sometime during 2nd year, I started to lose some of personality. For example, I slowly began to become more introverted and less inclined to see my friends. I didn¿¿t want to work out or go to the gym because I felt too tired or anxious to be seen, which was difficult for me to understand because I have been a high-level athlete my entire life. I stopped enjoying things I used to love, like going to the pier to watch the sun go down and hot-yoga classes. This was just the beginning of my journey with mental health.
In first semester, this year, my closest friends sat me down and told me they¿¿re worried about me. These are some their observations they posed to me: I never wanted to go out and enjoy things like I once did, I am oversleeping (at one point I was sleeping about 13 hours + a day), and even just basic things like my hygiene and my ability to my laundry was slipping. On top of that, I couldn¿¿t get myself to care about school - as someone who has always associated their self esteem with their grades in school, they knew something was very very wrong.
I¿¿m really fortunate my friends came to me with this and told me they were worried about me. My parents have never ¿¿believed¿ in mental health, and so I always thought invalidated whenever I tried to even attempt to broach the conversation with them.
My friends analysis of my daily behaviour was exactly correct. I was no longer in control. I found it hard to focus and even care about school. This is so out of character for me. Take a look at my transcript - my track record will prove that I have been a good student despite my battles with depression and anxiety. But this semester something was different, I was really slipping and struggling to show up and be an engaged student. My failure to be an active and engaged student further sent me into a spiral of lows.
The one course I am specifically wanting to appeal is SOCY 363. I got a C- in this course. While I did make my professor, Norma Mollers, aware that I was struggling and had accommodations. While Dr. Mollers and I did discuss due dates, I failed to meet them because of the mental challenges I was facing, which was: oversleeping due to depression, anxiety about going to public places such as the library and even class (hence my poor participation grades in some weeks), feeling unmotivated, basically just not wanting to do anything that I once enjoyed. If you look at my transcript, you will see that this is not a normal occurrence for me. During my time at Queen¿¿s, I have typically received grades that are in the B-A range. This is why I think I should be eligible for a CS grade in this case. As a student who really has prioritized their grades over the past four years, this really upsets me because I don¿¿t think it reflects who I am as a student and it will really hurt my overall G.P.A. As a student who also may want to go to grad school, I really can¿¿t take this risk. Next, if you notice my other two grades last semester, I received B¿¿s because the Professors were so accommodating and understanding of my situation. Without dwelling too much on this point, Dr. Mollers simply was not. With this in consideration, I would be ecstatic if I was able to obtain a C.S grade in this scenario.
The beginning of my journey with mental health begins a long time ago (perhaps longer than I am even aware of, as I have currently learned with an occupational therapist here at Queen¿¿s), but I think it really started to affect me in 2nd year. While there was no big life altering event that caused me to fall into a depression, there were a variety of events that contributed to my new reality. I can now acknowledge that sometime during 2nd year, I started to lose some of personality. For example, I slowly began to become more introverted and less inclined to see my friends. I didn¿¿t want to work out or go to the gym because I felt too tired or anxious to be seen, which was difficult for me to understand because I have been a high-level athlete my entire life. I stopped enjoying things I used to love, like going to the pier to watch the sun go down and hot-yoga classes. This was just the beginning of my journey with mental health.
In first semester, this year, my closest friends sat me down and told me they¿¿re worried about me. These are some their observations they posed to me: I never wanted to go out and enjoy things like I once did, I am oversleeping (at one point I was sleeping about 13 hours + a day), and even just basic things like my hygiene and my ability to my laundry was slipping. On top of that, I couldn¿¿t get myself to care about school - as someone who has always associated their self esteem with their grades in school, they knew something was very very wrong.
I¿¿m really fortunate my friends came to me with this and told me they were worried about me. My parents have never ¿¿believed¿ in mental health, and so I always thought invalidated whenever I tried to even attempt to broach the conversation with them.
My friends analysis of my daily behaviour was exactly correct. I was no longer in control. I found it hard to focus and even care about school. This is so out of character for me. Take a look at my transcript - my track record will prove that I have been a good student despite my battles with depression and anxiety. But this semester something was different, I was really slipping and struggling to show up and be an engaged student. My failure to be an active and engaged student further sent me into a spiral of lows.
The one course I am specifically wanting to appeal is SOCY 363. I got a C- in this course. While I did make my professor, Norma Mollers, aware that I was struggling and had accommodations. While Dr. Mollers and I did discuss due dates, I failed to meet them because of the mental challenges I was facing, which was: oversleeping due to depression, anxiety about going to public places such as the library and even class (hence my poor participation grades in some weeks), feeling unmotivated, basically just not wanting to do anything that I once enjoyed. If you look at my transcript, you will see that this is not a normal occurrence for me. During my time at Queen¿¿s, I have typically received grades that are in the B-A range. This is why I think I should be eligible for a CS grade in this case. As a student who really has prioritized their grades over the past four years, this really upsets me because I don¿¿t think it reflects who I am as a student and it will really hurt my overall G.P.A. As a student who also may want to go to grad school, I really can¿¿t take this risk. Next, if you notice my other two grades last semester, I received B¿¿s because the Professors were so accommodating and understanding of my situation. Without dwelling too much on this point, Dr. Mollers simply was not. With this in consideration, I would be ecstatic if I was able to obtain a C.S grade in this scenario.