Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 4673
Submitted: June 4, 2018 at 11:58:27 AM
First Name: Francesca
Last Name: de Vries
Student Number: 20012991
Email: 15fdv@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: PHIL Maj., PHYS Arts Min.
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Code: PHIL 361
Term: Winter
Year: 2017
Petition Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor's Name: Nancy Salay
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,
I am appealing my credit standing for Philosophy 361 (Fall, 2017).
I am requesting this appeal because I had been struggling for many years with an undiagnosed mental health condition which affected my performance in all my courses, especially in Philosophy 361. While I understood the material, I had the additional strain of my symptoms meant that my performance in this course was significantly impacted. I also took Math 120 during this time (which I dropped in the Winter 2018 semester), Cogs 100, Phil 257, and Phil 250. I performed poorly to average in Cogs 100 and Phil 257 on tests, but did very well in Phil 250. The reason that my other courses (Phil 250/257/Cogs 100) suffered less was because I already had an adequate background in the material covered in those courses.
I only decided to seek help recently because I became so overwhelmed with my lack of success in school that I felt the need to speak with a professional who could help me make sense of why my performance was becoming increasingly worse, and perhaps guide me to resources that could help me. Due to the nature of the illness, it took a long time to reach out for support. Upon meeting with the professionals at Student Wellness Services, it became increasingly clear that the reason for my poor performance was not due to poor time management or an inability to understand the material, but rather, undiagnosed Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), which was originally misdiagnosed as ADHD. Upon further testing at the Regional Assessment and Resource Centre (final report received on May 31st, 2018), it was revealed that while ADHD was an inappropriate diagnosis, I still experienced a number of symptoms similar to ADHD that caused significant difficulties.
My academic goals are to graduate as a philosophy major with a physics arts minor, as opposed to the original goal when I first enrolled in Queen¿¿s, which was to obtain a physics major. I made this decision when selecting my plan in 2017 because I knew that the arts are my natural forte, and that I would be more successful. Since pursuing this program, which is much better suited for me, I have seen an increase in performance, which I think is an indication that success is indeed possible, though my symptoms are a source of additional hurdles and I still struggle. This past semester (Winter 2018) I took a lighter course load, which included dropping Math 120 (due to increasingly worse performance). I enrolled to take Math 121 during the summer to replace Math 120, and have already made arrangements to meet with a tutor to ensure my success.
In order to regulate my condition and achieve academic success, I have begun meeting regularly with a doctor, psychotherapist, occupational therapist (who is assisting me with participating in academics), and have registered with QSAS. With this team, we have determined that a combination of medication, therapy, and access to the resources provided at QSAS would be the best course of action. To date, this has proven to be quite effective, since I find myself to be more functional in day to day activities, and capable of focusing on coursework in a way that I haven¿¿t been able to in a long time. I am currently on a trajectory to academic success thanks to the help I have been receiving, and plan to continue seeing them.
For the above reasons, I think that my current GPA does not accurately reflect my abilities, and for this, I have made the decision to appeal for credit standing for Philosophy 361.
Sincerely,
Francesca de Vries
I am appealing my credit standing for Philosophy 361 (Fall, 2017).
I am requesting this appeal because I had been struggling for many years with an undiagnosed mental health condition which affected my performance in all my courses, especially in Philosophy 361. While I understood the material, I had the additional strain of my symptoms meant that my performance in this course was significantly impacted. I also took Math 120 during this time (which I dropped in the Winter 2018 semester), Cogs 100, Phil 257, and Phil 250. I performed poorly to average in Cogs 100 and Phil 257 on tests, but did very well in Phil 250. The reason that my other courses (Phil 250/257/Cogs 100) suffered less was because I already had an adequate background in the material covered in those courses.
I only decided to seek help recently because I became so overwhelmed with my lack of success in school that I felt the need to speak with a professional who could help me make sense of why my performance was becoming increasingly worse, and perhaps guide me to resources that could help me. Due to the nature of the illness, it took a long time to reach out for support. Upon meeting with the professionals at Student Wellness Services, it became increasingly clear that the reason for my poor performance was not due to poor time management or an inability to understand the material, but rather, undiagnosed Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), which was originally misdiagnosed as ADHD. Upon further testing at the Regional Assessment and Resource Centre (final report received on May 31st, 2018), it was revealed that while ADHD was an inappropriate diagnosis, I still experienced a number of symptoms similar to ADHD that caused significant difficulties.
My academic goals are to graduate as a philosophy major with a physics arts minor, as opposed to the original goal when I first enrolled in Queen¿¿s, which was to obtain a physics major. I made this decision when selecting my plan in 2017 because I knew that the arts are my natural forte, and that I would be more successful. Since pursuing this program, which is much better suited for me, I have seen an increase in performance, which I think is an indication that success is indeed possible, though my symptoms are a source of additional hurdles and I still struggle. This past semester (Winter 2018) I took a lighter course load, which included dropping Math 120 (due to increasingly worse performance). I enrolled to take Math 121 during the summer to replace Math 120, and have already made arrangements to meet with a tutor to ensure my success.
In order to regulate my condition and achieve academic success, I have begun meeting regularly with a doctor, psychotherapist, occupational therapist (who is assisting me with participating in academics), and have registered with QSAS. With this team, we have determined that a combination of medication, therapy, and access to the resources provided at QSAS would be the best course of action. To date, this has proven to be quite effective, since I find myself to be more functional in day to day activities, and capable of focusing on coursework in a way that I haven¿¿t been able to in a long time. I am currently on a trajectory to academic success thanks to the help I have been receiving, and plan to continue seeing them.
For the above reasons, I think that my current GPA does not accurately reflect my abilities, and for this, I have made the decision to appeal for credit standing for Philosophy 361.
Sincerely,
Francesca de Vries
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: Documentation already sent