Petition Letter
Dear, Dr. Jenn Stephenson (Associate Dean - Academics)
I am writing this petition to drop all Winter courses from 2022 including;
CLST 103 (Winter, 2022), DEVS 100B (Winter, 2022), GLPH 171 (Winter 2022), PSYC 100B (Winter, 2022), and SOCY 122B (Winter, 2022).
In high school, I was a model student with a 95% average, and I was heavily involved in extracurricular activities such as captain and MVP of my school's rugby team, Spirit Prefect in my senior year, and a very social learner. However, when I arrived at Queen's in September 2021, I was disappointed to discover that nearly all of my classes were to be held online. I had been hesitant to attend university in the first place because I had not enjoyed the online portion of my classes in high school during the COVID lockdown, but I was hoping that there would be in-person classes by the time I started at Queens. With this being said, throughout the year there were times when my scheduled classes would go from being online, to in-person, but not long after, these classes would return to being online, and this made adjusting my learning style even harder. To make matters worse, I got really sick and could barely get out of bed near the end of the first semester, and in order to get a doctor's note I needed to show a negative test from a local clinic that I didn't have the energy to follow through with. Additionally, there was an outbreak of COVID-19 in my residence, and everything became very restricted. I found myself trapped in my room, unmotivated to learn, I fell into bouts of low mood and began struggling with anxiety for the first time in my life.
Additionally, about halfway through the second semester I again got extremely physically ill and struggled to do anything, walking to the bathroom from my room took such a toll on my body that I would pass out from exhaustion. I struggled through, hoping to at least pass my courses, but I was devastated to learn that I had effectively failed almost everything. During this time I felt completely trapped, everything was closed and there were no social elements to help me cope with everything I was going through. Because of Covid-19, intramurals were canceled, classes were online, and residents were shut down, and outside of Queens, there was almost nothing open. This lead me to feel the most alone I have ever felt, and like there was no way for me to get help. Around August 8th, 2021, my father also began struggling with his own mental health. Because of this, he was forced to take time off of work and seek a medical professional. My father struggled with this journey, and many times took his internal anger and pain out on me. My family was more broken than ever, and as someone who was struggling with my own mental and physical illness, I had no idea how to cope. Because everything was shut down due to Covid, I felt as though there were no support systems for me to lean on, and nowhere to go. I realize now that I should have appealed my marks, but at the time, I was struggling with low mood, and anxiety, and had little desire to return to online learning.
Again, I am writing this petition to drop the previously listed courses, as I believe that the extreme circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic have greatly impacted my academic performance and mental health. Now that the lockdowns are over, I am still very interested in pursuing further university courses at Queens, and I believe that with in-person learning, I will be able to achieve success in my studies. I have reached out to a number of licensed therapists in hopes to start counseling/therapy for my anxiety and low mood, and have talked with Dr. Gina Ranger regarding my anxiety. I am still looking for a therapist who has more open availability in order to create a structured schedule for meetings. I have been referred to a few therapists that are in private practice and looking to take on some new clients. I believe that maintaining regular meetings with a therapist will help me gain coping strategies to overcome my anxiety. With my year away from school while working full time, I have been able to take time and reflect on why I wanted to go to university in the first place, and I feel motivated and lucky to be getting another chance to work toward my goal of graduating from Queens University. During my time away I also realized that there is no set timeline when it comes to graduating. I now know that it is okay to take a lighter courseload and graduate at my own pace. I would be grateful for the opportunity to return to Queen's and show that I am a strong and capable student who would greatly benefit from the chance to reset and start again with a clean slate and a better head space.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Aveda Mancini
20284042
Please see the attachments and references below/linked
Dr. Gina Ranger - gina.ranger@hsc.on.ca
Fathers' time away from work - linked
I am writing this petition to drop all Winter courses from 2022 including;
CLST 103 (Winter, 2022), DEVS 100B (Winter, 2022), GLPH 171 (Winter 2022), PSYC 100B (Winter, 2022), and SOCY 122B (Winter, 2022).
In high school, I was a model student with a 95% average, and I was heavily involved in extracurricular activities such as captain and MVP of my school's rugby team, Spirit Prefect in my senior year, and a very social learner. However, when I arrived at Queen's in September 2021, I was disappointed to discover that nearly all of my classes were to be held online. I had been hesitant to attend university in the first place because I had not enjoyed the online portion of my classes in high school during the COVID lockdown, but I was hoping that there would be in-person classes by the time I started at Queens. With this being said, throughout the year there were times when my scheduled classes would go from being online, to in-person, but not long after, these classes would return to being online, and this made adjusting my learning style even harder. To make matters worse, I got really sick and could barely get out of bed near the end of the first semester, and in order to get a doctor's note I needed to show a negative test from a local clinic that I didn't have the energy to follow through with. Additionally, there was an outbreak of COVID-19 in my residence, and everything became very restricted. I found myself trapped in my room, unmotivated to learn, I fell into bouts of low mood and began struggling with anxiety for the first time in my life.
Additionally, about halfway through the second semester I again got extremely physically ill and struggled to do anything, walking to the bathroom from my room took such a toll on my body that I would pass out from exhaustion. I struggled through, hoping to at least pass my courses, but I was devastated to learn that I had effectively failed almost everything. During this time I felt completely trapped, everything was closed and there were no social elements to help me cope with everything I was going through. Because of Covid-19, intramurals were canceled, classes were online, and residents were shut down, and outside of Queens, there was almost nothing open. This lead me to feel the most alone I have ever felt, and like there was no way for me to get help. Around August 8th, 2021, my father also began struggling with his own mental health. Because of this, he was forced to take time off of work and seek a medical professional. My father struggled with this journey, and many times took his internal anger and pain out on me. My family was more broken than ever, and as someone who was struggling with my own mental and physical illness, I had no idea how to cope. Because everything was shut down due to Covid, I felt as though there were no support systems for me to lean on, and nowhere to go. I realize now that I should have appealed my marks, but at the time, I was struggling with low mood, and anxiety, and had little desire to return to online learning.
Again, I am writing this petition to drop the previously listed courses, as I believe that the extreme circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic have greatly impacted my academic performance and mental health. Now that the lockdowns are over, I am still very interested in pursuing further university courses at Queens, and I believe that with in-person learning, I will be able to achieve success in my studies. I have reached out to a number of licensed therapists in hopes to start counseling/therapy for my anxiety and low mood, and have talked with Dr. Gina Ranger regarding my anxiety. I am still looking for a therapist who has more open availability in order to create a structured schedule for meetings. I have been referred to a few therapists that are in private practice and looking to take on some new clients. I believe that maintaining regular meetings with a therapist will help me gain coping strategies to overcome my anxiety. With my year away from school while working full time, I have been able to take time and reflect on why I wanted to go to university in the first place, and I feel motivated and lucky to be getting another chance to work toward my goal of graduating from Queens University. During my time away I also realized that there is no set timeline when it comes to graduating. I now know that it is okay to take a lighter courseload and graduate at my own pace. I would be grateful for the opportunity to return to Queen's and show that I am a strong and capable student who would greatly benefit from the chance to reset and start again with a clean slate and a better head space.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Aveda Mancini
20284042
Please see the attachments and references below/linked
Dr. Gina Ranger - gina.ranger@hsc.on.ca
Fathers' time away from work - linked