Manage Appeals
Petition Type: 3
ID: 652
Submitted: January 6, 2015 at 10:38:30 PM
Relevant Petition: 621
First Name: Allison
Last Name: Alldrit
Student Number: 10059880
Email: 11ama22@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BSH
Plan: LISC
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Code: CHEM281
Term: Fall
Year: 2013
Petition Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor's Name: David Zechel
Code: CHEM282
Term: Winter
Year: 2014
Petition Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor's Name: John Carran
Code: PHGY214
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2013
Petition Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor's Name: Dean Van Vugt
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Academic Appeal for Credit Standing
Allison Alldrit- 10059880
January 5, 2015
To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Allison Alldrit and I am currently in my third year of my undergraduate degree, completing a Specialization in Life Science. I am looking to appeal three of my courses from my second year of my undergraduate degree for Credit Standing, those courses being CHEM281, CHEM282, and PHGY214.
In the fall of 2013 I began struggling with my mental health. At that time I was living with four other ladies, two of whom had extremely serious mental health diagnoses that they were doing their best to work through. Due to the severity of my housemate¿¿s mental illnesses I felt that my deteriorating mental health was insignificant compared to what my friends were dealing with. I began thinking that I was just being weak and continued to be extremely hard on myself to a detrimental point. I felt that by considering that I may have mental health problems I was just trying to make up excuses for why I was struggling so much in school and with my friendships. At this point I did not even consider getting help. I felt that in telling someone that I thought I might have mental health problems I would not be taken seriously, as my problems were not as bad as what other people are dealing with.
Along with my mental health problems my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer in the fall of 2013. This caused additional anxiety especially because I was away from home and in the beginning the doctors were unsure of her prognosis. In December of 2013 and early in 2014 she had multiple surgeries in attempts to remove the cancer. This has definitely brought my family closer together in the long-term, but also added stress onto all of us during the time of the surgical procedures and during my grandmother¿¿s recovery.
In the fall semester of 2013 I did not do well academically in most of my courses except for BIOL205. I believe that I did well in this course due to the fact that there was no formal exam in December around the time of my grandmother¿¿s initial surgery. As well, all of the testing in the course was completed online. Personally, being able to use the course material while writing the test was extremely helpful in securing a better mark for myself in this course. One of my housemates was a biology major and was not struggling with her mental health. She was my laboratory partner for the course and provided a lot of support in terms of helping me study for the course and answering my questions when I was struggling.
After explaining why I believe I did not achieve an academic standard that I am used to in the 2013-2014 academic year, I would like to explain how I am improving my current situation. This summer (2015) I am planning on taking PHGY210, which is an online summer term course that covers the equivalent material from PHGY214. I am confident that I have the ability to achieve a mark that more accurately reflects the knowledge I will acquire during this course. As well as this academic plan I became a Residence Don during the current academic year, which removed myself from the toxic environment of my past house. This position has pushed me to be a positive role model for my first year students and allowed me to fully learn about the resources available to me on campus. This November I worked up the courage to speak with a counsellor at Health Counselling and Disability Services. I have had two appointments with a counsellor and just talking to someone who valued what I was going through, and was able to reassure me that it was completely normal to be feeling this way calmed my anxiety and made me feel significantly better. The final piece of good news that I have received came this summer when my grandmother was told she was officially in remission from her breast cancer.
After receiving my final marks from the fall semester of 2014 I can see that I am definitely making positive improvements in my life from where I was mentally at this point last year. Lastly, I would like to thank you for your time and consideration in reviewing my appeal request.
Sincerely,
Allison Alldrit
10059880
Allison Alldrit- 10059880
January 5, 2015
To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Allison Alldrit and I am currently in my third year of my undergraduate degree, completing a Specialization in Life Science. I am looking to appeal three of my courses from my second year of my undergraduate degree for Credit Standing, those courses being CHEM281, CHEM282, and PHGY214.
In the fall of 2013 I began struggling with my mental health. At that time I was living with four other ladies, two of whom had extremely serious mental health diagnoses that they were doing their best to work through. Due to the severity of my housemate¿¿s mental illnesses I felt that my deteriorating mental health was insignificant compared to what my friends were dealing with. I began thinking that I was just being weak and continued to be extremely hard on myself to a detrimental point. I felt that by considering that I may have mental health problems I was just trying to make up excuses for why I was struggling so much in school and with my friendships. At this point I did not even consider getting help. I felt that in telling someone that I thought I might have mental health problems I would not be taken seriously, as my problems were not as bad as what other people are dealing with.
Along with my mental health problems my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer in the fall of 2013. This caused additional anxiety especially because I was away from home and in the beginning the doctors were unsure of her prognosis. In December of 2013 and early in 2014 she had multiple surgeries in attempts to remove the cancer. This has definitely brought my family closer together in the long-term, but also added stress onto all of us during the time of the surgical procedures and during my grandmother¿¿s recovery.
In the fall semester of 2013 I did not do well academically in most of my courses except for BIOL205. I believe that I did well in this course due to the fact that there was no formal exam in December around the time of my grandmother¿¿s initial surgery. As well, all of the testing in the course was completed online. Personally, being able to use the course material while writing the test was extremely helpful in securing a better mark for myself in this course. One of my housemates was a biology major and was not struggling with her mental health. She was my laboratory partner for the course and provided a lot of support in terms of helping me study for the course and answering my questions when I was struggling.
After explaining why I believe I did not achieve an academic standard that I am used to in the 2013-2014 academic year, I would like to explain how I am improving my current situation. This summer (2015) I am planning on taking PHGY210, which is an online summer term course that covers the equivalent material from PHGY214. I am confident that I have the ability to achieve a mark that more accurately reflects the knowledge I will acquire during this course. As well as this academic plan I became a Residence Don during the current academic year, which removed myself from the toxic environment of my past house. This position has pushed me to be a positive role model for my first year students and allowed me to fully learn about the resources available to me on campus. This November I worked up the courage to speak with a counsellor at Health Counselling and Disability Services. I have had two appointments with a counsellor and just talking to someone who valued what I was going through, and was able to reassure me that it was completely normal to be feeling this way calmed my anxiety and made me feel significantly better. The final piece of good news that I have received came this summer when my grandmother was told she was officially in remission from her breast cancer.
After receiving my final marks from the fall semester of 2014 I can see that I am definitely making positive improvements in my life from where I was mentally at this point last year. Lastly, I would like to thank you for your time and consideration in reviewing my appeal request.
Sincerely,
Allison Alldrit
10059880
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: Letter from Health Counselling and Disability Services
Document: Cancer Diagnosis 2013.doc
Documentation Detail: Letter from my father verifying the general timeline of my grandmothers breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.