Petition Letter
Dear Associate Dean (studies),
My name is Sophia Konstantinova and I am a first year undergraduate student seeking to inquire if I may have the option to receive credit standing in place of my final marks in PSYCH 100, PHAR 100 and CHEM 100. As well as requesting to waive the 21 day deadline and credit standing for LING 100. Unfortunately being a new student I was not fully aware of the 21 day deadline and LING 100 ended officially before final exams started, since there is no midterm or final exam. Due to extenuating circumstances beyond my control throughout the full school year, my academic performance has reflected these circumstances unfortunately. I have contacted my professors and had been advised to appeal to the Associate Dean (studies). I have also spoken to an academic adviser who advised me to appeal for an option of credit standing. I had moved to residence for my first year and had a poor experience in the residence environment due to food allergies (and personal mental health issues) that were accommodated, but continued to persist to a point where I decided to stop eating the meal plan. I had symptoms of fatigue and vomiting every day. I would attempt to focus on my course work and assignments heavily and received better grades but had poor test marks and final grades overall. LING 100 was hit heavily the most due to the course structure and amount of time needed attending class to receive a full mark since the tests were fifty percent of the course¿¿s overall mark. Due to my health circumstances I was not able to attend this class as frequently as I needed and wanted to. I kept these health issues to myself believing I could overcome them at first, but soon realized I would not be able to. My fellow floor mates and I did not have issues but I was never close to forming friendships with them. My roommate and I did not have issues either. I never approached any of my peers due to having anxiety in social situations. I did approach my Don and a Don on call when I had strong suicidal thoughts during an attack and had spoken to Mr. Freeman who had also supported my appeal to leave residence at the time. Due to health, financial and mental health circumstances I was seeking to leave the residence environment in October 2015, upon recommendation by my family doctor, Mr. Freeman and a psychiatrist I saw monthly at Kingston¿¿s Addiction and Mental Health Services. I had kept in close contact with Mrs. Herne in the residence office in Victoria hall during this process. The psychiatrist I began seeing in November 2015 was when I decided to seek help for my mental health circumstances through Queen¿¿s First Aid who found me having an anxiety attack in residence. I had tried to appeal to leave residence in November 2015 but was not allowed to breach my contract in January 2016, therefore continued to get help with monthly psychiatrist visits hoping I could improve my academic performance. I had also been in a relationship with a student that ended in an unexpected pregnancy and the student refused to help me. I had managed to receive some money from friends and went to Toronto to have the abortion myself. Unfortunately due to not wanting to contact any family for help because of feelings of shame, I had to have the child longer than I had expected, which in turn worsened my mental and overall health quite significantly. Most of my courses were affected heavily by my extenuating circumstances and as a new first year student to Queen¿¿s University, I was still finding out the resources I have been provided by Queen¿¿s. I have been diagnosed with multiple food allergies and sensitivities, specifically GERD, IBS and chronic gastritis. As well as anxiety disorder and adjustment disorder. I have several pieces of documentation I will provide alongside this letter supporting my leave from residence at the time. I also have documentation from my psychiatrist at the time. To improve my health for the long term I had decided to admit two transfer applications in January 2016 to York University and University of Toronto hoping to transfer home and get a proper treatment for my extenuating circumstances and to improve my overall academic performance. To transfer I need a minimum of 2.0 to 2.3 gpa for York University and unfortunately I do not meet that requirement currently at a gpa of 1.6. I enjoy Queen¿¿s university¿¿s academia and overall campus environment but cannot live far from home due to these circumstances. I hope to be considered for credit standing for the courses stated above and to have the 21 day deadline waived due to my extenuating circumstances beyond my control, ultimately so I am able to meet the required minimum to transfer post-secondary institutions. Thank you for your time and consideration. I will be looking forward to your response.
Kind Regards,
Sophia Konstantinova
My name is Sophia Konstantinova and I am a first year undergraduate student seeking to inquire if I may have the option to receive credit standing in place of my final marks in PSYCH 100, PHAR 100 and CHEM 100. As well as requesting to waive the 21 day deadline and credit standing for LING 100. Unfortunately being a new student I was not fully aware of the 21 day deadline and LING 100 ended officially before final exams started, since there is no midterm or final exam. Due to extenuating circumstances beyond my control throughout the full school year, my academic performance has reflected these circumstances unfortunately. I have contacted my professors and had been advised to appeal to the Associate Dean (studies). I have also spoken to an academic adviser who advised me to appeal for an option of credit standing. I had moved to residence for my first year and had a poor experience in the residence environment due to food allergies (and personal mental health issues) that were accommodated, but continued to persist to a point where I decided to stop eating the meal plan. I had symptoms of fatigue and vomiting every day. I would attempt to focus on my course work and assignments heavily and received better grades but had poor test marks and final grades overall. LING 100 was hit heavily the most due to the course structure and amount of time needed attending class to receive a full mark since the tests were fifty percent of the course¿¿s overall mark. Due to my health circumstances I was not able to attend this class as frequently as I needed and wanted to. I kept these health issues to myself believing I could overcome them at first, but soon realized I would not be able to. My fellow floor mates and I did not have issues but I was never close to forming friendships with them. My roommate and I did not have issues either. I never approached any of my peers due to having anxiety in social situations. I did approach my Don and a Don on call when I had strong suicidal thoughts during an attack and had spoken to Mr. Freeman who had also supported my appeal to leave residence at the time. Due to health, financial and mental health circumstances I was seeking to leave the residence environment in October 2015, upon recommendation by my family doctor, Mr. Freeman and a psychiatrist I saw monthly at Kingston¿¿s Addiction and Mental Health Services. I had kept in close contact with Mrs. Herne in the residence office in Victoria hall during this process. The psychiatrist I began seeing in November 2015 was when I decided to seek help for my mental health circumstances through Queen¿¿s First Aid who found me having an anxiety attack in residence. I had tried to appeal to leave residence in November 2015 but was not allowed to breach my contract in January 2016, therefore continued to get help with monthly psychiatrist visits hoping I could improve my academic performance. I had also been in a relationship with a student that ended in an unexpected pregnancy and the student refused to help me. I had managed to receive some money from friends and went to Toronto to have the abortion myself. Unfortunately due to not wanting to contact any family for help because of feelings of shame, I had to have the child longer than I had expected, which in turn worsened my mental and overall health quite significantly. Most of my courses were affected heavily by my extenuating circumstances and as a new first year student to Queen¿¿s University, I was still finding out the resources I have been provided by Queen¿¿s. I have been diagnosed with multiple food allergies and sensitivities, specifically GERD, IBS and chronic gastritis. As well as anxiety disorder and adjustment disorder. I have several pieces of documentation I will provide alongside this letter supporting my leave from residence at the time. I also have documentation from my psychiatrist at the time. To improve my health for the long term I had decided to admit two transfer applications in January 2016 to York University and University of Toronto hoping to transfer home and get a proper treatment for my extenuating circumstances and to improve my overall academic performance. To transfer I need a minimum of 2.0 to 2.3 gpa for York University and unfortunately I do not meet that requirement currently at a gpa of 1.6. I enjoy Queen¿¿s university¿¿s academia and overall campus environment but cannot live far from home due to these circumstances. I hope to be considered for credit standing for the courses stated above and to have the 21 day deadline waived due to my extenuating circumstances beyond my control, ultimately so I am able to meet the required minimum to transfer post-secondary institutions. Thank you for your time and consideration. I will be looking forward to your response.
Kind Regards,
Sophia Konstantinova