Petition Letter
To Whom It May Concern:
Hello, my name is Yonghun Shin (6204269) and I am writing this request to have two of my courses from Winter 2017 academic year. I¿¿m trying hard to not feel bad about writing this appeal once again, but I just cannot help myself feeling this way. A little about myself. I just finished my fifth year at Queen¿¿s University after completing two years of compulsory service in Korean Army. Ever since I have returned from my service, I have been struggling with my mental health. I¿¿ve only realized and recognized that I was having a problem at the end of 3rd year. With a suggestion from a good friend of mine, Cam Yung, I eventually went to see a counsellor and a psychologist at the beginning of my 4th year. It was very difficult for me to come to terms with my mental health situation. I didn¿¿t eat regularly. I had a difficult time sleeping. I began to avoid human interactions, especially with people whom I know would care about me. I didn¿¿t go out of my room. I only did the bare minimum or no work at all. I spent countless hours staring at the ceiling or the wall, pondering about what I was doing at the time. In my mind, I was fully aware that I needed to wake up and get my situation figured out, but it became difficult for me to break out of that cycle. For something that felt like an eternity, time actually flew by without me realizing it. When I went to write an exam at the PEC, but instead turned right around and went back to my room, that was the moment that I admitted that I was going through something.
Then I started seeing a counsellor at La Salle Clinic in campus. It was a hard journey to the clinic personally. Not just the first time, but every trip to La Salle wasn¿¿t an easy one. I hated the fact that I was mentally unhealthy, and that I had to rely on a professional help. To my surprise, however, seeing a counsellor started to change my thoughts. I began to accept that I was in fact depressed and it was okay for me to go through such period. I opened up to some of my close friends about what I was going through. I knew that my friends supported me with what I was going through. After a while, I thought that I was back to my healthy self. I stopped going to La Salle for counselling sessions. It was a new semester and a new beginning for me. In a way, I think I was actually doing better. I was eating three meals a day, exercised, attended my lectures, etc. However, it wasn¿¿t long until I fell right back to where I was. Long story short, I somehow ended up where I was previously. Only this time, I told my friends that I was doing well when they asked me about my mental health. I fooled myself, along with my friends, that I was healthy when I wasn¿¿t. Which brings me to the fall semester of 2016. I was determined to become actually healthy instead of fooling myself that I was. I saw a counsellor bi weekly, regularly talking about my mental status. This time, I saw a counsellor named Pauline and she helped me quite a bit. With her help, I was at my ideal self. I ate and slept on schedule. I started to go to the gym again. I was feeling good about myself, but I was also cautious to not fall back into my old habits.
As determined as I was, I went off track once again when I found out about my friend¿¿s suicide. Shortly after beginning of winter semester, a good friend of mine from elementary and high school committed suicide. The news hit me like a lightning. This guy was one of the happiest, friendliest, and warmest guy that I knew. He was someone like me before I had those dark moments. When I attended his funeral, I still couldn¿¿t believe that he did what he did even when I saw his body. Although this wasn¿¿t the first funeral that I¿¿ve been to, it definitely was the first funeral of someone that I personally knew. When I returned to campus after the funeral, I had a moment when I started to question everything. What¿¿s the point of school when we all end up cold and dead like my friend Then, everything worry, concern, stress that I was holding down came surging at me like tsunami. Because of my service in Korean military, I was two years behind. I was doing my fifth year at Queen¿¿s, and my grades had been suffering along with my mental health. The fear of what if¿¿s hit me. What if I do poorly once again this semester What if I can¿¿t graduate What and how would I tell my parents and other family What do I tell my friends I started to shut myself from my life again. But this time I didn¿¿t stop seeing my counsellor this time. Instead of going through this period all by myself, I still talked to my counsellor. I told Pauline about my friend¿¿s suicide and how it was affecting me. She and I worked extremely hard together to keep me on track.
I took two 400 level economics courses on campus and one online course during winter semester of 2017. Although courses themselves were not challenging, I ended up getting F on two courses. After the end of recent semester, I have consulted academic counsellor about my options and she recommended me to take an online course over the summer. She also recommended me to appeal for the courses that I didn¿¿t do well on when I told her about what I¿¿ve been going through. I¿¿ve tried to contact my counsellor Pauline Leung from La Salle, but she never replied. I understand that this is my third appeal in last three years. I¿¿ve been making enormous efforts to work on my mental health. I understand that depression is something that I will live with for the rest of my life, but I am ready to move on with my life. I understand that there is no point in regretting on choices that I made before, but I also understand that I need to regain control of my life. I believe that I can achieve something with my life, and I don¿¿t my past to weigh me down when I¿¿m ready to move on with my life. Like I mentioned in the beginning, it makes me feel bad for writing this appeal letter. It makes me feel like I¿¿ve lost my battle against depression. However, I may have lost the battle, but I¿¿m not willing to lose the war against this. I¿¿m still battling against my mental health issues, but with the help of family and friends, I know for sure that I¿¿ll conquer in the end.
Thank you for reading my appeal letter, or rather more importantly, my university life. As hard and difficult as it has been, I feel very fortunate that I am part of Queen¿¿s University and there always are support for someone like myself. I feel like I¿¿ve rambled on and on about my situation. If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact me via my email, 9yhs1@queensu.ca or my cell 613-328-7946.
Sincerely,
Yonghun Shin
Hello, my name is Yonghun Shin (6204269) and I am writing this request to have two of my courses from Winter 2017 academic year. I¿¿m trying hard to not feel bad about writing this appeal once again, but I just cannot help myself feeling this way. A little about myself. I just finished my fifth year at Queen¿¿s University after completing two years of compulsory service in Korean Army. Ever since I have returned from my service, I have been struggling with my mental health. I¿¿ve only realized and recognized that I was having a problem at the end of 3rd year. With a suggestion from a good friend of mine, Cam Yung, I eventually went to see a counsellor and a psychologist at the beginning of my 4th year. It was very difficult for me to come to terms with my mental health situation. I didn¿¿t eat regularly. I had a difficult time sleeping. I began to avoid human interactions, especially with people whom I know would care about me. I didn¿¿t go out of my room. I only did the bare minimum or no work at all. I spent countless hours staring at the ceiling or the wall, pondering about what I was doing at the time. In my mind, I was fully aware that I needed to wake up and get my situation figured out, but it became difficult for me to break out of that cycle. For something that felt like an eternity, time actually flew by without me realizing it. When I went to write an exam at the PEC, but instead turned right around and went back to my room, that was the moment that I admitted that I was going through something.
Then I started seeing a counsellor at La Salle Clinic in campus. It was a hard journey to the clinic personally. Not just the first time, but every trip to La Salle wasn¿¿t an easy one. I hated the fact that I was mentally unhealthy, and that I had to rely on a professional help. To my surprise, however, seeing a counsellor started to change my thoughts. I began to accept that I was in fact depressed and it was okay for me to go through such period. I opened up to some of my close friends about what I was going through. I knew that my friends supported me with what I was going through. After a while, I thought that I was back to my healthy self. I stopped going to La Salle for counselling sessions. It was a new semester and a new beginning for me. In a way, I think I was actually doing better. I was eating three meals a day, exercised, attended my lectures, etc. However, it wasn¿¿t long until I fell right back to where I was. Long story short, I somehow ended up where I was previously. Only this time, I told my friends that I was doing well when they asked me about my mental health. I fooled myself, along with my friends, that I was healthy when I wasn¿¿t. Which brings me to the fall semester of 2016. I was determined to become actually healthy instead of fooling myself that I was. I saw a counsellor bi weekly, regularly talking about my mental status. This time, I saw a counsellor named Pauline and she helped me quite a bit. With her help, I was at my ideal self. I ate and slept on schedule. I started to go to the gym again. I was feeling good about myself, but I was also cautious to not fall back into my old habits.
As determined as I was, I went off track once again when I found out about my friend¿¿s suicide. Shortly after beginning of winter semester, a good friend of mine from elementary and high school committed suicide. The news hit me like a lightning. This guy was one of the happiest, friendliest, and warmest guy that I knew. He was someone like me before I had those dark moments. When I attended his funeral, I still couldn¿¿t believe that he did what he did even when I saw his body. Although this wasn¿¿t the first funeral that I¿¿ve been to, it definitely was the first funeral of someone that I personally knew. When I returned to campus after the funeral, I had a moment when I started to question everything. What¿¿s the point of school when we all end up cold and dead like my friend Then, everything worry, concern, stress that I was holding down came surging at me like tsunami. Because of my service in Korean military, I was two years behind. I was doing my fifth year at Queen¿¿s, and my grades had been suffering along with my mental health. The fear of what if¿¿s hit me. What if I do poorly once again this semester What if I can¿¿t graduate What and how would I tell my parents and other family What do I tell my friends I started to shut myself from my life again. But this time I didn¿¿t stop seeing my counsellor this time. Instead of going through this period all by myself, I still talked to my counsellor. I told Pauline about my friend¿¿s suicide and how it was affecting me. She and I worked extremely hard together to keep me on track.
I took two 400 level economics courses on campus and one online course during winter semester of 2017. Although courses themselves were not challenging, I ended up getting F on two courses. After the end of recent semester, I have consulted academic counsellor about my options and she recommended me to take an online course over the summer. She also recommended me to appeal for the courses that I didn¿¿t do well on when I told her about what I¿¿ve been going through. I¿¿ve tried to contact my counsellor Pauline Leung from La Salle, but she never replied. I understand that this is my third appeal in last three years. I¿¿ve been making enormous efforts to work on my mental health. I understand that depression is something that I will live with for the rest of my life, but I am ready to move on with my life. I understand that there is no point in regretting on choices that I made before, but I also understand that I need to regain control of my life. I believe that I can achieve something with my life, and I don¿¿t my past to weigh me down when I¿¿m ready to move on with my life. Like I mentioned in the beginning, it makes me feel bad for writing this appeal letter. It makes me feel like I¿¿ve lost my battle against depression. However, I may have lost the battle, but I¿¿m not willing to lose the war against this. I¿¿m still battling against my mental health issues, but with the help of family and friends, I know for sure that I¿¿ll conquer in the end.
Thank you for reading my appeal letter, or rather more importantly, my university life. As hard and difficult as it has been, I feel very fortunate that I am part of Queen¿¿s University and there always are support for someone like myself. I feel like I¿¿ve rambled on and on about my situation. If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact me via my email, 9yhs1@queensu.ca or my cell 613-328-7946.
Sincerely,
Yonghun Shin