Petition Letter
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to appeal my Biology 202 final mark and request a Credit Standing (CR) in Biology 202 from the Winter 2018 semester.
On February 11th, 2018 I got a concussion while playing in a rugby 7¿¿s game for the Queen¿¿s Women¿¿s Rugby Team. I specifically struggled in BIOL 202 over my other courses for several reasons. Firstly, BIOL 202¿¿s three-hour lab's, which entailed a large portion of the courses overall assessment. During the first month and a half of my concussion, I struggled to leave my house for anytime longer than an hour, making attending the labs very difficult. Additionally, timed tests were particularly symptom inducing; I found myself feeling extremely scrambled and confused while writing them. This applied directly BIOL 202's lab exams and quizzes.
A large amount of content associated with BIOL 202 made it significantly more difficult to stay caught up with while being concussed compared to my other courses. Whereas my other courses were strongly written based, BIOL 202 had more tests/labs that aggravated my concussion symptoms. My lack of attendance to labs contributed to my overall deteriorated grade, one in marks lost from participation, and secondly in learning time lost from suffering from such large headaches during the labs I was able to attend.
The detrimental factor to my final grade was the failing of my final exam. BIOL 202 was my last of five exams. At that time, I was experiencing stronger symptoms due to the high cognitive demand of my previous four exams (i.e. dizziness, extreme sensitivity to light, and persistent headaches).
In addition to the cognitive impairments I had from being concussed, I suffered from prior brain trauma, which severely extenuated my concussion symptoms. I have been seeing Dr. Billing through health services at Queen's who prescribes me 20Mg of Sandoz Amphetamine XR twice a day. While being concussed, I reached out to Accessibility Services where they added additional accommodations for extra time writing exams.
It should be noted that I had done significantly better in BIOL 201 the semester before, ending with a B, as opposed to a C-. Additionally, previous to becoming concussed, I had felt confident in my progression through the course. This is evident while considering my invertebrate lab mark¿¿s which were given prior to my concussion.
After exams in April, I proceeded to focus my time on recovering from my concussion. This mostly involved cognitive rest for me, which I had not had ample opportunity for during the semester. As well as an exclusion to physical activities of any sorts. By mid-June 2018 I was symptom-free. I took two courses this past summer semester to be sure my head was ready for a full course load this fall, which I excelled in, giving me the confidence to begin a heavier course load again this Fall 2018.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Camille Irvine
2001640
I am writing to appeal my Biology 202 final mark and request a Credit Standing (CR) in Biology 202 from the Winter 2018 semester.
On February 11th, 2018 I got a concussion while playing in a rugby 7¿¿s game for the Queen¿¿s Women¿¿s Rugby Team. I specifically struggled in BIOL 202 over my other courses for several reasons. Firstly, BIOL 202¿¿s three-hour lab's, which entailed a large portion of the courses overall assessment. During the first month and a half of my concussion, I struggled to leave my house for anytime longer than an hour, making attending the labs very difficult. Additionally, timed tests were particularly symptom inducing; I found myself feeling extremely scrambled and confused while writing them. This applied directly BIOL 202's lab exams and quizzes.
A large amount of content associated with BIOL 202 made it significantly more difficult to stay caught up with while being concussed compared to my other courses. Whereas my other courses were strongly written based, BIOL 202 had more tests/labs that aggravated my concussion symptoms. My lack of attendance to labs contributed to my overall deteriorated grade, one in marks lost from participation, and secondly in learning time lost from suffering from such large headaches during the labs I was able to attend.
The detrimental factor to my final grade was the failing of my final exam. BIOL 202 was my last of five exams. At that time, I was experiencing stronger symptoms due to the high cognitive demand of my previous four exams (i.e. dizziness, extreme sensitivity to light, and persistent headaches).
In addition to the cognitive impairments I had from being concussed, I suffered from prior brain trauma, which severely extenuated my concussion symptoms. I have been seeing Dr. Billing through health services at Queen's who prescribes me 20Mg of Sandoz Amphetamine XR twice a day. While being concussed, I reached out to Accessibility Services where they added additional accommodations for extra time writing exams.
It should be noted that I had done significantly better in BIOL 201 the semester before, ending with a B, as opposed to a C-. Additionally, previous to becoming concussed, I had felt confident in my progression through the course. This is evident while considering my invertebrate lab mark¿¿s which were given prior to my concussion.
After exams in April, I proceeded to focus my time on recovering from my concussion. This mostly involved cognitive rest for me, which I had not had ample opportunity for during the semester. As well as an exclusion to physical activities of any sorts. By mid-June 2018 I was symptom-free. I took two courses this past summer semester to be sure my head was ready for a full course load this fall, which I excelled in, giving me the confidence to begin a heavier course load again this Fall 2018.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Camille Irvine
2001640