Petition Letter
Dear Associate Dean,
I am appealing the Faculty's decision that I must withdraw for a minimum of one year due to personal issues that arose during the school year.
During the summer of 2017 I was been diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety, I was hospitalized and underwent treatment for many weeks. however, I was determined to attend my first year of university, since I had already accepted and made preparations before my diagnosis.
During the school year my anxiety and mental health went through waves of good and bad causing me to miss a lot of class time and not perform to my full ability. Not only was I adjusting to new a type of school, as well as a new country, but also a new illness I had not had a lot of prior experience dealing with.
I did seek counseling and the help of student services while at the BISC but found them to be very limited in the ways they could help me. I could only see a councillor once for an hour every other week, which I found to be insufficient, and found that accessing outside counselling and therapy would have taken too long, as I would have had to go through the UK NHS. I tried my best in the scenario I was in, giving that it was my first year and on top of that I was also dealing with my newly diagnoses.
The counsellor, who I will keep unnamed had told me they did not even think I suffered from either anxiety or depression, which made me even more doubtful of myself and my situation. I am not putting any blame on the BISC counselling or student services; however, I will say their help was limited and left me feeling like I had no one else to turn to. They were not a causation of my poor academic performance this year, however they also were little help in improving my situation.
I found myself unable to attend class, unable to focus, and unable to complete assignments properly. This obviously had an enormous impact on my GPA and performance.
Once I returned home however, I immediately made appointments with the doctors and psychiatrists who had seen me the previous summer. I have seen my family doctor who diagnosed me in the first place, and he has referred me to a specialist who will be able to help me over the summer and intro the coming school year. Something which I believe will benefit me hugely is continuing treatment with a specialist I know and trust throughout the school year, as opposed to switching to a system and counsellors I do not know, and who do not believe me about my mental health situation.
I know depression and anxiety are not illnesses you can be rid of in a week or two. These illnesses are something that may very well plague me for the rest of my life. I am determined, and I know I can prove it to myself that I can do anything I would have done before my diagnosis.
I am appealing the Faculty's decision that I must withdraw for a minimum of one year due to personal issues that arose during the school year.
During the summer of 2017 I was been diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety, I was hospitalized and underwent treatment for many weeks. however, I was determined to attend my first year of university, since I had already accepted and made preparations before my diagnosis.
During the school year my anxiety and mental health went through waves of good and bad causing me to miss a lot of class time and not perform to my full ability. Not only was I adjusting to new a type of school, as well as a new country, but also a new illness I had not had a lot of prior experience dealing with.
I did seek counseling and the help of student services while at the BISC but found them to be very limited in the ways they could help me. I could only see a councillor once for an hour every other week, which I found to be insufficient, and found that accessing outside counselling and therapy would have taken too long, as I would have had to go through the UK NHS. I tried my best in the scenario I was in, giving that it was my first year and on top of that I was also dealing with my newly diagnoses.
The counsellor, who I will keep unnamed had told me they did not even think I suffered from either anxiety or depression, which made me even more doubtful of myself and my situation. I am not putting any blame on the BISC counselling or student services; however, I will say their help was limited and left me feeling like I had no one else to turn to. They were not a causation of my poor academic performance this year, however they also were little help in improving my situation.
I found myself unable to attend class, unable to focus, and unable to complete assignments properly. This obviously had an enormous impact on my GPA and performance.
Once I returned home however, I immediately made appointments with the doctors and psychiatrists who had seen me the previous summer. I have seen my family doctor who diagnosed me in the first place, and he has referred me to a specialist who will be able to help me over the summer and intro the coming school year. Something which I believe will benefit me hugely is continuing treatment with a specialist I know and trust throughout the school year, as opposed to switching to a system and counsellors I do not know, and who do not believe me about my mental health situation.
I know depression and anxiety are not illnesses you can be rid of in a week or two. These illnesses are something that may very well plague me for the rest of my life. I am determined, and I know I can prove it to myself that I can do anything I would have done before my diagnosis.