Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 11337
Submitted: December 30, 2023 at 11:41:09 PM
First Name: Stephanie
Last Name: Cachia
Pronoun: she/her
Preferred Name: Stephanie
Student Number: 20165925
Email: 18smc11@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: LING
Level of Study: 4
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Code: PSYC 342
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Petition Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor's Name: Leandre R Fabrigar
Section/Class Number: 5644
Code: ITLN 111
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Petition Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor's Name: Brigitte Eleonore Bachmann
Section/Class Number: 3467
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Academic) Dr. Jenn Stephenson,
I hope this letter finds you well. I am petitioning for Credit Standing in two courses: PSYC 342 (Fall, 2022) and ITLN 111 (Fall, 2022) as my academic performance was severely impacted due to an unknown mental illness that I was experiencing at the time I was enrolled in these courses.
Over the last 3 years, I have been working tirelessly towards academic excellence in hopes of getting accepted to a Speech-Language Pathology graduate program in the future. As this program is extremely competitive, there is immense pressure to perform exceptionally well and achieve the highest GPA. As the fear of rejection was the driving force behind my academic success, I unknowingly developed severe anxiety because of it. Ever since my second year at Queen’s, I had experienced panic attacks when I studied for exams, I constantly felt nauseous and would vomit when completing my schoolwork, I couldn’t concentrate during classes as my mind was constantly in a state of fear, and I had troubles falling asleep at night and would wake up very early due to excessive worrying. As I was academically successful for the majority of my second and third years, I had underestimated how severe the anxiety was and I blamed myself for any poor academic performances rather than realize the issues were associated with my declining mental health. Having heard the lines ‘everyone feels anxious sometimes’ and ‘school is stressful for everyone’, I convinced myself that this wasn’t an extenuating circumstance.
As I didn’t receive any treatment for the anxiety, it inevitably got worse. During the fall semester of my fourth year in 2022, the anxiety started to become unbearable. In November, I began underperforming in my work to alleviate as much of the anxiety as I could. While in a constant state of fight or flight, I was now fleeing the situation rather than fighting the situation. I began missing PSYC 342 lectures, I didn’t complete the readings for my PYSC 343 class, I began procrastinating on my Italian homework for so long that I just ended up never doing it. I feared feeling anxious more than receiving a bad grade on my final essay in MOHK 101 so I just submitted whatever I could write before the deadline. When final exams approached in December, my body physically couldn’t handle another panic attack so I did not study for my final exams in PSYC 343, PSYC 342 and ITLN 111. Had I begun self-sabotaging to this extent before the deadline to drop courses, I would have dropped these classes but unfortunately it was too late.
I am only petitioning for PSYC 342 and ITLN 111 instead of all the classes I had taken because to my surprise, I earned a significantly higher grade than I had expected in MOHK 101 and PSYC 343 despite how unprepared I felt. However, this is not the case for PSYC 342 and ITLN 111. Additionally, I understand that a final grade of B+ in ITLN 111 and a B- in PSYC 342 may not seem like low grades, but they are significantly lower than the grades I was projected to earn had it not been for this extenuating circumstance. For context, I had about 97% in PYSC 342 and 95% in ITLN 111 going into the final exams. These final grades are significantly lower than the rest of the grades on my transcript and I am extremely fearful that having lowered my GPA will strongly reduce my chance of getting accepted to a Speech-Language Pathology graduate program in the future.
Despite these unfortunate events, I’ve developed a plan to achieve academic success again. After a recent psychological evaluation that showed I endorse symptoms of severe anxiety, I plan to begin Cognitive Behavioural Therapy sessions biweekly to help me learn strategies to reduce the risk of panic attacks. More recently, I’ve been prescribed anxiety medication to further ease the anxiety, preventing daily functional impairment as I'll regain my focus when I attend classes and can complete my work without feeling nauseous. I’ve also registered with a Mental Health Counsellor at Student Wellness for monthly check-ins. Finally, I am registered with QSAS so I can receive the accommodations I need to excel in my future courses, such as more time to complete assignments and exams to avoid self-sabotaging behaviours. I assure you I will work as hard as I can to be as academically successful as I know I can be.
Thank you very much for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Cachia
I hope this letter finds you well. I am petitioning for Credit Standing in two courses: PSYC 342 (Fall, 2022) and ITLN 111 (Fall, 2022) as my academic performance was severely impacted due to an unknown mental illness that I was experiencing at the time I was enrolled in these courses.
Over the last 3 years, I have been working tirelessly towards academic excellence in hopes of getting accepted to a Speech-Language Pathology graduate program in the future. As this program is extremely competitive, there is immense pressure to perform exceptionally well and achieve the highest GPA. As the fear of rejection was the driving force behind my academic success, I unknowingly developed severe anxiety because of it. Ever since my second year at Queen’s, I had experienced panic attacks when I studied for exams, I constantly felt nauseous and would vomit when completing my schoolwork, I couldn’t concentrate during classes as my mind was constantly in a state of fear, and I had troubles falling asleep at night and would wake up very early due to excessive worrying. As I was academically successful for the majority of my second and third years, I had underestimated how severe the anxiety was and I blamed myself for any poor academic performances rather than realize the issues were associated with my declining mental health. Having heard the lines ‘everyone feels anxious sometimes’ and ‘school is stressful for everyone’, I convinced myself that this wasn’t an extenuating circumstance.
As I didn’t receive any treatment for the anxiety, it inevitably got worse. During the fall semester of my fourth year in 2022, the anxiety started to become unbearable. In November, I began underperforming in my work to alleviate as much of the anxiety as I could. While in a constant state of fight or flight, I was now fleeing the situation rather than fighting the situation. I began missing PSYC 342 lectures, I didn’t complete the readings for my PYSC 343 class, I began procrastinating on my Italian homework for so long that I just ended up never doing it. I feared feeling anxious more than receiving a bad grade on my final essay in MOHK 101 so I just submitted whatever I could write before the deadline. When final exams approached in December, my body physically couldn’t handle another panic attack so I did not study for my final exams in PSYC 343, PSYC 342 and ITLN 111. Had I begun self-sabotaging to this extent before the deadline to drop courses, I would have dropped these classes but unfortunately it was too late.
I am only petitioning for PSYC 342 and ITLN 111 instead of all the classes I had taken because to my surprise, I earned a significantly higher grade than I had expected in MOHK 101 and PSYC 343 despite how unprepared I felt. However, this is not the case for PSYC 342 and ITLN 111. Additionally, I understand that a final grade of B+ in ITLN 111 and a B- in PSYC 342 may not seem like low grades, but they are significantly lower than the grades I was projected to earn had it not been for this extenuating circumstance. For context, I had about 97% in PYSC 342 and 95% in ITLN 111 going into the final exams. These final grades are significantly lower than the rest of the grades on my transcript and I am extremely fearful that having lowered my GPA will strongly reduce my chance of getting accepted to a Speech-Language Pathology graduate program in the future.
Despite these unfortunate events, I’ve developed a plan to achieve academic success again. After a recent psychological evaluation that showed I endorse symptoms of severe anxiety, I plan to begin Cognitive Behavioural Therapy sessions biweekly to help me learn strategies to reduce the risk of panic attacks. More recently, I’ve been prescribed anxiety medication to further ease the anxiety, preventing daily functional impairment as I'll regain my focus when I attend classes and can complete my work without feeling nauseous. I’ve also registered with a Mental Health Counsellor at Student Wellness for monthly check-ins. Finally, I am registered with QSAS so I can receive the accommodations I need to excel in my future courses, such as more time to complete assignments and exams to avoid self-sabotaging behaviours. I assure you I will work as hard as I can to be as academically successful as I know I can be.
Thank you very much for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Cachia
Documentation
Professional Letter: SC Appeal Doc oct2023.pdf