Petition Letter
Hello to whomever it may concern,
My name is Taylor Sim-Salfarlie and I am submitting this appeal to inform you guys about everything that has been happening to me this first year at Queen's. I want to start off by saying that I am disappointed in myself for letting my grades slip this far to the point of withdrawal. Ever since the first few months of school, I could say that I would moderately keep up with course work as well as trying to adjust to everything being online. By that time we had already learned a lot of course material, but as this was happening, we had to learn new online features, and I not only struggled to adapt to them, but I also started struggling with the coursework. As a kid, I always felt like I had a harder time keeping up with the other students, as well as obtaining new things I¿¿ve learnt, as I¿¿m a visual type learner, learning in the classroom would have benefitted me in learning new things, and although all students were put through this new type of lifestyle of basically learning a lot of the course material themselves along with few weekly lectures/tutorials, I started getting really unmotivated and sad as well as being stressed all the time. When I would feel these things, I¿¿d be stuck at home just doing work where I wouldn¿¿t have anyone to talk to about these problems because my parents just didn¿¿t understand that a lot of the times I either felt sad or stressed was due to them, and the expectations that they expect from me and that I could also feel sad for no reason at all. And for so long I wanted help, someone to talk to about the problems I was facing in school and at home, but was not given anything except for pep-talks from my dad telling me I could do it and to make him and everyone proud even though I would be thinking the exact opposite. This continued until pretty much the rest of the year. I only got worse with everything as time went on and I honestly felt helpless. When I had concerns about certain assignments or anything in general(I¿¿m not shaming any teacher in particular) the teacher would give vague answers to my questions and concerns. For example only addressing one part of my questions leaving the rest unanswered and me still confused. This would bring my mood down and make me so unmotivated and feel like I couldn¿¿t complete anything without the help of others. When the fall term ended, I had promised myself to do better the second term, in hopes of motivating myself, but that just didn¿¿t work. I managed to do even worse than I had the first term. I felt like I was not only letting others down this time but myself as well. All of this taking place during COVID-19, made things so much harder on me, restrictions prohibited you from seeing your friends, which obviously takes a toll on a teenager. I happened to stay home this year, in Toronto, which I feel also impacted me in a way, as the many students that went to residence this first year, could easily communicate and express their concerns about their courses to each other, as well as some public interaction (meeting for studying, getting food, etc.) which would help ease the transition of your first year during COVID-19 instead of trying to figure out things on your own. Aside from this, I¿¿ve always had trouble focusing, and procrastinating was like one of my specialties. I came to the conclusion that I might have ADHD or some form of that being that I have many of the symptoms. I have mentioned it to my parents before, the first time being in highschool and now recently during the last three months of school when I wanted to get tested for it, only to have this be another situation of mine they either didn¿¿t understand or didn't want to. When I happened to mention this when I noticed myself slipping behind in coursework during the fall term, my dad fully didn¿¿t accept anything I had to say about possibly having this disorder and questioned ¿¿why would you want to have it¿I would always get agitated by these comments because of course I don¿¿t want there to be a possibility of having this disorder, I don¿¿t want to have a hard time learning new things, or taking extra long on things that any other student could do in the recommended amount of time, or being unable to focus on things, or focusing my mind on another task knowing I have other priorities, and the list goes on. All I can say is that I don¿¿t even know how I made it the whole year. I struggled immensely and didn¿¿t know how to ask for help. By the end of exams I had no motivation at this point and my sadness continued. I had a feeling I had messed up my exams and well, I was right, for once. Finally when it was time to look at my marks, I felt sick to my stomach with stress, anxiety, and guilt just thinking about telling my parents, but more so my dad, as he set the expectations he had for me while my mom agreed. Although, with all that happening, I saw the effort my parents were trying to make when I told them that I have been sad and unmotivated for a while even though they didn¿¿t understand, they were willing to try to. Recently my mom set up an appointment with my family doctor to discuss what has been going on, and what exactly I need, we¿¿ve had call sessions, and recently last monday he referred me to a psychiatrist, which I think is major progress considering how before my dad didn¿¿t even like the mention of me possibly having a disorder. This year also just generally took a toll on me due to the pressure both my mom and dad's sides put on me, especially since 4 of my mom¿¿s relatives and 1 of my dad¿¿s went to Queens and graduated with degrees, while 3 of the relatives being older now have high paying jobs in America. Anyways, that was my first year at Queens University. I hope you will consider accepting this appeal so I can prove that I can overcome this past failure of a year, and achieve all new heights. I just want another chance to make my family proud.
Sincerely, Taylor.
My name is Taylor Sim-Salfarlie and I am submitting this appeal to inform you guys about everything that has been happening to me this first year at Queen's. I want to start off by saying that I am disappointed in myself for letting my grades slip this far to the point of withdrawal. Ever since the first few months of school, I could say that I would moderately keep up with course work as well as trying to adjust to everything being online. By that time we had already learned a lot of course material, but as this was happening, we had to learn new online features, and I not only struggled to adapt to them, but I also started struggling with the coursework. As a kid, I always felt like I had a harder time keeping up with the other students, as well as obtaining new things I¿¿ve learnt, as I¿¿m a visual type learner, learning in the classroom would have benefitted me in learning new things, and although all students were put through this new type of lifestyle of basically learning a lot of the course material themselves along with few weekly lectures/tutorials, I started getting really unmotivated and sad as well as being stressed all the time. When I would feel these things, I¿¿d be stuck at home just doing work where I wouldn¿¿t have anyone to talk to about these problems because my parents just didn¿¿t understand that a lot of the times I either felt sad or stressed was due to them, and the expectations that they expect from me and that I could also feel sad for no reason at all. And for so long I wanted help, someone to talk to about the problems I was facing in school and at home, but was not given anything except for pep-talks from my dad telling me I could do it and to make him and everyone proud even though I would be thinking the exact opposite. This continued until pretty much the rest of the year. I only got worse with everything as time went on and I honestly felt helpless. When I had concerns about certain assignments or anything in general(I¿¿m not shaming any teacher in particular) the teacher would give vague answers to my questions and concerns. For example only addressing one part of my questions leaving the rest unanswered and me still confused. This would bring my mood down and make me so unmotivated and feel like I couldn¿¿t complete anything without the help of others. When the fall term ended, I had promised myself to do better the second term, in hopes of motivating myself, but that just didn¿¿t work. I managed to do even worse than I had the first term. I felt like I was not only letting others down this time but myself as well. All of this taking place during COVID-19, made things so much harder on me, restrictions prohibited you from seeing your friends, which obviously takes a toll on a teenager. I happened to stay home this year, in Toronto, which I feel also impacted me in a way, as the many students that went to residence this first year, could easily communicate and express their concerns about their courses to each other, as well as some public interaction (meeting for studying, getting food, etc.) which would help ease the transition of your first year during COVID-19 instead of trying to figure out things on your own. Aside from this, I¿¿ve always had trouble focusing, and procrastinating was like one of my specialties. I came to the conclusion that I might have ADHD or some form of that being that I have many of the symptoms. I have mentioned it to my parents before, the first time being in highschool and now recently during the last three months of school when I wanted to get tested for it, only to have this be another situation of mine they either didn¿¿t understand or didn't want to. When I happened to mention this when I noticed myself slipping behind in coursework during the fall term, my dad fully didn¿¿t accept anything I had to say about possibly having this disorder and questioned ¿¿why would you want to have it¿I would always get agitated by these comments because of course I don¿¿t want there to be a possibility of having this disorder, I don¿¿t want to have a hard time learning new things, or taking extra long on things that any other student could do in the recommended amount of time, or being unable to focus on things, or focusing my mind on another task knowing I have other priorities, and the list goes on. All I can say is that I don¿¿t even know how I made it the whole year. I struggled immensely and didn¿¿t know how to ask for help. By the end of exams I had no motivation at this point and my sadness continued. I had a feeling I had messed up my exams and well, I was right, for once. Finally when it was time to look at my marks, I felt sick to my stomach with stress, anxiety, and guilt just thinking about telling my parents, but more so my dad, as he set the expectations he had for me while my mom agreed. Although, with all that happening, I saw the effort my parents were trying to make when I told them that I have been sad and unmotivated for a while even though they didn¿¿t understand, they were willing to try to. Recently my mom set up an appointment with my family doctor to discuss what has been going on, and what exactly I need, we¿¿ve had call sessions, and recently last monday he referred me to a psychiatrist, which I think is major progress considering how before my dad didn¿¿t even like the mention of me possibly having a disorder. This year also just generally took a toll on me due to the pressure both my mom and dad's sides put on me, especially since 4 of my mom¿¿s relatives and 1 of my dad¿¿s went to Queens and graduated with degrees, while 3 of the relatives being older now have high paying jobs in America. Anyways, that was my first year at Queens University. I hope you will consider accepting this appeal so I can prove that I can overcome this past failure of a year, and achieve all new heights. I just want another chance to make my family proud.
Sincerely, Taylor.