Petition Letter
Dear Associate Dean (Studies),
My name is Kalena Adames and I am a third-year Gender Studies major within the faculty of Arts and Science. I am appealing to drop the following courses after the academic deadline: HLTH 270 (Fall, 2020), MICR 270 (Fall, 2020), and LLCU 110 (Winter, 2021).
During the Fall term of my 2020-2021 studies, my academic performance was negatively impacted due to a sudden mental health-related issue that developed as a result of witnessing a series of traumatic events that occurred within my home environment. The emergence of my extenuating circumstances occurred around the middle of October 2020 and have persisted to the present day (April 2021). Due to the severity of these circumstances, I experienced the following mental and physical symptoms: extreme distress and avoidance/isolation, physical and emotional numbness and detachment, anxiety and hyperarousal, constant fatigue and disturbed sleep, difficulty concentrating, depression, and suicidal ideation. As a result of these symptoms, this caused me to fall significantly behind in my course work, miss deadlines, and submit my assignments late. Since HLTH 270 did not have a final exam component, the course was heavily dependent on written assignments and several weekly assessments. This caused me to fall behind shortly after the Fall semester started and left me unable to catch up due to my lack of motivation, poor concentration, and constant fatigue. In order to manage my situation, I had met with a new counsellor at Student Wellness Services (SWS) at the end of November 2020 and received a Short Term Accommodation until the middle of January 2021 (i.e. a 4-8 week duration). Aside from meeting with my counsellor on a monthly basis, I had also started to meet with a family navigator at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre to explore options for further mental health assessment and treatment. However, because the process of getting a psychiatric assessment has spanned the course of the Winter 2021 term, I have not yet received an official diagnosis for my current condition and have been unable to receive further mental health treatment. Along with not being able to leave my current home environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic and financial dependence, these factors ultimately caused my condition to gradually worsen over the course of the Winter 2021 semester and rapidly decline near the end of March 2021. This resulted in me struggling to manage my LLCU 110 coursework and assessments, as well as affected my ability to finish my outstanding coursework from MICR 270, due to my extreme inability to concentrate, depression, and suicidal ideation. As a result of this sudden rapid decline in my condition, I received an additional Short Term Accommodation from my SWS counsellor. I did not drop HLTH 270 and MICR 270, despite the fact that my extenuating circumstances occurred prior to the Fall 2020 Week 8 deadline, as I did not anticipate my extenuating circumstances to rapidly increase in intensity and severity, and felt that I had an adequate amount of time to salvage my grades. I also did not drop LLCU 110 prior to the Winter 2021 Week 8 deadline despite my condition persisting prior to the date, as I was able to steadily keep up with the weekly coursework and assessments up until Week 10 (after the drop deadline) and thought that I would be able to finish the course.
In the case that my appeal is granted, in order to achieve academic success, I plan to make several personal adjustments in order to succeed in my future studies. As my extenuating circumstances are ongoing, I will continue to meet with my family navigator at Sunnybrook regularly over the 2021 Summer term, as well as reconnect and regularly meet with my SWS counsellor when school resumes in the Fall. I am currently in the process of seeking out mental health treatment, and plan to regularly meet with a psychiatrist and therapist over the 2021 Summer term as well. I have also taken it upon myself to drop the three courses I had originally planned to take during the 2021 Summer term, as this will allow me to focus solely on my treatment in order for me to be able to successfully return to my studies in the fall.
Sincerely,
Kalena Adames
My name is Kalena Adames and I am a third-year Gender Studies major within the faculty of Arts and Science. I am appealing to drop the following courses after the academic deadline: HLTH 270 (Fall, 2020), MICR 270 (Fall, 2020), and LLCU 110 (Winter, 2021).
During the Fall term of my 2020-2021 studies, my academic performance was negatively impacted due to a sudden mental health-related issue that developed as a result of witnessing a series of traumatic events that occurred within my home environment. The emergence of my extenuating circumstances occurred around the middle of October 2020 and have persisted to the present day (April 2021). Due to the severity of these circumstances, I experienced the following mental and physical symptoms: extreme distress and avoidance/isolation, physical and emotional numbness and detachment, anxiety and hyperarousal, constant fatigue and disturbed sleep, difficulty concentrating, depression, and suicidal ideation. As a result of these symptoms, this caused me to fall significantly behind in my course work, miss deadlines, and submit my assignments late. Since HLTH 270 did not have a final exam component, the course was heavily dependent on written assignments and several weekly assessments. This caused me to fall behind shortly after the Fall semester started and left me unable to catch up due to my lack of motivation, poor concentration, and constant fatigue. In order to manage my situation, I had met with a new counsellor at Student Wellness Services (SWS) at the end of November 2020 and received a Short Term Accommodation until the middle of January 2021 (i.e. a 4-8 week duration). Aside from meeting with my counsellor on a monthly basis, I had also started to meet with a family navigator at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre to explore options for further mental health assessment and treatment. However, because the process of getting a psychiatric assessment has spanned the course of the Winter 2021 term, I have not yet received an official diagnosis for my current condition and have been unable to receive further mental health treatment. Along with not being able to leave my current home environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic and financial dependence, these factors ultimately caused my condition to gradually worsen over the course of the Winter 2021 semester and rapidly decline near the end of March 2021. This resulted in me struggling to manage my LLCU 110 coursework and assessments, as well as affected my ability to finish my outstanding coursework from MICR 270, due to my extreme inability to concentrate, depression, and suicidal ideation. As a result of this sudden rapid decline in my condition, I received an additional Short Term Accommodation from my SWS counsellor. I did not drop HLTH 270 and MICR 270, despite the fact that my extenuating circumstances occurred prior to the Fall 2020 Week 8 deadline, as I did not anticipate my extenuating circumstances to rapidly increase in intensity and severity, and felt that I had an adequate amount of time to salvage my grades. I also did not drop LLCU 110 prior to the Winter 2021 Week 8 deadline despite my condition persisting prior to the date, as I was able to steadily keep up with the weekly coursework and assessments up until Week 10 (after the drop deadline) and thought that I would be able to finish the course.
In the case that my appeal is granted, in order to achieve academic success, I plan to make several personal adjustments in order to succeed in my future studies. As my extenuating circumstances are ongoing, I will continue to meet with my family navigator at Sunnybrook regularly over the 2021 Summer term, as well as reconnect and regularly meet with my SWS counsellor when school resumes in the Fall. I am currently in the process of seeking out mental health treatment, and plan to regularly meet with a psychiatrist and therapist over the 2021 Summer term as well. I have also taken it upon myself to drop the three courses I had originally planned to take during the 2021 Summer term, as this will allow me to focus solely on my treatment in order for me to be able to successfully return to my studies in the fall.
Sincerely,
Kalena Adames