Petition Letter
Dear Dr. Johanne Bénard Associate Dean of Studies (or to whom may this concern),
My name is Benjamin Ahn and I am appealing for a credit standing in BIOL 103 (Winter 2015) attempted during my first-year of studies in the Concurrent Education and Faculty of Arts and Science.
During my first year, I never encountered such hardship and difficulty. Everyday was a challenge, and I didn¿¿t know how to cope. I currently suffer from clinical depression and generalized anxiety disorder. These obstacles prevented and deterred my overall performance as a first year academic student. Coming into university with top grades amongst my graduating class (along with other students that matriculate to Queen¿¿s), adapting was difficult. I understand that others adapt better than others, however, with my long history with anxiety disorder (which eventually lead to the formation of clinical depression disorder) has lead to worse outcomes. I would rate my work ethics in high school to be extremely organized and prepared. While my time here, I found it hard to leave bed and frequently have the difficulty of going to lectures. I started to notice my downward spiral during my fall semester of first year. At this point, I dropped PHYS 117 to ease my anxiety going into the year. Although that I thought this would help, everyday was a chore for me, and I knew something about me was ¿¿off¿. Going to lectures, doing assignments, and studying for tests were extremely difficult ¿¿ more than a chore. I simply found it difficult doing everyday routines and ultimately pondering with my anxiety about just completing simple task. I found that living (doing normal daily routines) was difficult and was ultimately discouraged to do anything.
I spent countless hours in HCDS and KGH, which left extremely valuable time that I had, to waste. I spent countless hours worrying about the odds and considered dropping out of university for a semester ¿¿ and eventually became extremely impulsive. Going into the BIO 103 exam, I knew it was going to be disastrous, and simply wanted to escape from the consequences, that I knew that all my circumstances prevented me from doing the exam and course to the best of my abilities.
Every time I would attempt to study and complete coursework, I would be worrying about after the fact and the overall anxiety would eventually consume me, leading to a poor attempt or even no attempt on my course materials. I was crying and seeking help, desperately trying to escape this black hole that I was thrown into. I really truly believe in mistakes, but I contest that I would have done better if my mind and body were in a healthier state.
Unfortunately, clinical depression and generalized anxiety disorders is both a difficult obstacle to overcome and manage, especially when they are combined together ¿¿ the effects are amplified and daily routines become extremely difficult. On top of everyday routines, academic work ethics were strongly affected and deterred my overall performance. To me, this is an extremely extenuating circumstance that I had absolutely no control over. Even with medication and continued therapy, I still see a boulder to jump over every single day.
For the future, I do not want to continue feeling like this during my studies. As a student, there will always be obstacles in the way; however, I want to gain the proper consistent professional help that I need to succeed or at least cope. My main problem this year was inconsistent treatment, which resulted in short-term relief, but not a solution to my problem. I hope to be recommended to a psychiatrist both in Toronto (during summers) and in Kingston to seek consistent treatment. I will also attempt to take a lesser course load if necessary to focus more on my personal needs.
My name is Benjamin Ahn and I am appealing for a credit standing in BIOL 103 (Winter 2015) attempted during my first-year of studies in the Concurrent Education and Faculty of Arts and Science.
During my first year, I never encountered such hardship and difficulty. Everyday was a challenge, and I didn¿¿t know how to cope. I currently suffer from clinical depression and generalized anxiety disorder. These obstacles prevented and deterred my overall performance as a first year academic student. Coming into university with top grades amongst my graduating class (along with other students that matriculate to Queen¿¿s), adapting was difficult. I understand that others adapt better than others, however, with my long history with anxiety disorder (which eventually lead to the formation of clinical depression disorder) has lead to worse outcomes. I would rate my work ethics in high school to be extremely organized and prepared. While my time here, I found it hard to leave bed and frequently have the difficulty of going to lectures. I started to notice my downward spiral during my fall semester of first year. At this point, I dropped PHYS 117 to ease my anxiety going into the year. Although that I thought this would help, everyday was a chore for me, and I knew something about me was ¿¿off¿. Going to lectures, doing assignments, and studying for tests were extremely difficult ¿¿ more than a chore. I simply found it difficult doing everyday routines and ultimately pondering with my anxiety about just completing simple task. I found that living (doing normal daily routines) was difficult and was ultimately discouraged to do anything.
I spent countless hours in HCDS and KGH, which left extremely valuable time that I had, to waste. I spent countless hours worrying about the odds and considered dropping out of university for a semester ¿¿ and eventually became extremely impulsive. Going into the BIO 103 exam, I knew it was going to be disastrous, and simply wanted to escape from the consequences, that I knew that all my circumstances prevented me from doing the exam and course to the best of my abilities.
Every time I would attempt to study and complete coursework, I would be worrying about after the fact and the overall anxiety would eventually consume me, leading to a poor attempt or even no attempt on my course materials. I was crying and seeking help, desperately trying to escape this black hole that I was thrown into. I really truly believe in mistakes, but I contest that I would have done better if my mind and body were in a healthier state.
Unfortunately, clinical depression and generalized anxiety disorders is both a difficult obstacle to overcome and manage, especially when they are combined together ¿¿ the effects are amplified and daily routines become extremely difficult. On top of everyday routines, academic work ethics were strongly affected and deterred my overall performance. To me, this is an extremely extenuating circumstance that I had absolutely no control over. Even with medication and continued therapy, I still see a boulder to jump over every single day.
For the future, I do not want to continue feeling like this during my studies. As a student, there will always be obstacles in the way; however, I want to gain the proper consistent professional help that I need to succeed or at least cope. My main problem this year was inconsistent treatment, which resulted in short-term relief, but not a solution to my problem. I hope to be recommended to a psychiatrist both in Toronto (during summers) and in Kingston to seek consistent treatment. I will also attempt to take a lesser course load if necessary to focus more on my personal needs.