Petition Letter
To: The Associate Dean of Studies
I am appealing to waive the 21day deadline so that I may request to drop GEOL104 & MATH 121 for a credit standing in PHYS117.
Coming to Queen's I was oblivious to what qualified as an extenuating circumstance and was unaware of what resources that were available to me, such as the appeal process, for I am the first in my family to attend University.
On January 10th, 2013 before my acceptance to Queen's, I wrote an extenuating circumstances letter as a factor in considering my application to Queen's about the hardships I experienced in High School. Late in the year after the submission of this letter, I had an accident that caused me to have the second concussion in my life. This one was different then the slight disorientation I had experienced during my first one. I began having trouble concentrating; following along with simple conversations and the headaches were not tolerable. They made my pre-existing migraines seem pleasurable and these were a different kind of pain then I had experienced before. It was the concentration issue that I noticed most however, my biology teacher began to notice my slip in responsiveness, he knew something really wasn't right with how I was acting or the last grade on my test, which was very abnormal for me. I sought out medical help from a nurse practitioner when weeks went by and I still felt different, she said it was a post- concussion symptom and in time it would get better. Months went by and although it got better, I never seemed to go back to normal. I noticed my slip in concentration towards my studies and my extra-curricular activities, but their wasn't much I could do but keep going. During this time I was accepted to Queen's. When I was accepted, I've never seen my parents so proud. I was so happy, I just forgot all about my concentration and slight memory issues. I had gotten in and I thought that's all that mattered. I had no idea what to do about it and I figured it would eventually go away like the doctor had said. After all I went through in high school I just couldn't pass up Queen's, it was what I had been striving for my whole high school career but now here I am with another concussion, worse memory and concentration problems and wanting nothing more for things to be all right again.
The point of this being, Queen's has always been my dream and extenuating circumstances seem to keep getting in the way but yet I will not quit. In first year I know the concussion really caused me a lot of trouble in concentrating, I tried reaching out for help in first year but the peer help offered in first year did not sufficiently help me know my options. I was scared and ashamed about the symptoms I was still suffering from, combined with being in a big city, with new people and no idea what I was doing here. I just had no idea what to do and my parents had no clue either; having never been to university. I manage to struggle through most of my courses, spending hours studying but not much sticking with me. It didn't help second term that I lost two aunts within a month's span which made it a really hard year.
I'm in second year now and I knew things had to be different; I needed to seek help. I heard in second year you could talk to an academic councilor so the first thing I did was go to academic advisement. I also went to career services and to the learning commons and booked an appointment with a learning strategist. I had a plan in line to overcome everything for my second year when I suffered another concussion at Midterms fall 2014. I've since had to defer exams because of the worsen effects of my third concussion for two concussions in a year and a half.
My plan for achieving academic success includes taking a reduced semester for Winter/2015, in order to get everything sorted out and continue to heal so that I may get better and get back on track. This summer I plan on not taking any summer courses in order to give myself ample time to rest and recover. I believe that along with the assistance of the medical help I am seeking and the academic support services at Queen's, I may get back on track and hopefully return in the fall healed. I have discussed the options with disability and academic advisement and I probably will end up taking an extra year to finish my degree but I'm ok with that. I just want to finally be better and be able to carry out my dream of graduating from Queen's.
I sincerely thank you in advance for hearing me out on this issue and I hope you will take everything into consideration with your decision on my appeal.
Sincerely,
Ashley Buske
I am appealing to waive the 21day deadline so that I may request to drop GEOL104 & MATH 121 for a credit standing in PHYS117.
Coming to Queen's I was oblivious to what qualified as an extenuating circumstance and was unaware of what resources that were available to me, such as the appeal process, for I am the first in my family to attend University.
On January 10th, 2013 before my acceptance to Queen's, I wrote an extenuating circumstances letter as a factor in considering my application to Queen's about the hardships I experienced in High School. Late in the year after the submission of this letter, I had an accident that caused me to have the second concussion in my life. This one was different then the slight disorientation I had experienced during my first one. I began having trouble concentrating; following along with simple conversations and the headaches were not tolerable. They made my pre-existing migraines seem pleasurable and these were a different kind of pain then I had experienced before. It was the concentration issue that I noticed most however, my biology teacher began to notice my slip in responsiveness, he knew something really wasn't right with how I was acting or the last grade on my test, which was very abnormal for me. I sought out medical help from a nurse practitioner when weeks went by and I still felt different, she said it was a post- concussion symptom and in time it would get better. Months went by and although it got better, I never seemed to go back to normal. I noticed my slip in concentration towards my studies and my extra-curricular activities, but their wasn't much I could do but keep going. During this time I was accepted to Queen's. When I was accepted, I've never seen my parents so proud. I was so happy, I just forgot all about my concentration and slight memory issues. I had gotten in and I thought that's all that mattered. I had no idea what to do about it and I figured it would eventually go away like the doctor had said. After all I went through in high school I just couldn't pass up Queen's, it was what I had been striving for my whole high school career but now here I am with another concussion, worse memory and concentration problems and wanting nothing more for things to be all right again.
The point of this being, Queen's has always been my dream and extenuating circumstances seem to keep getting in the way but yet I will not quit. In first year I know the concussion really caused me a lot of trouble in concentrating, I tried reaching out for help in first year but the peer help offered in first year did not sufficiently help me know my options. I was scared and ashamed about the symptoms I was still suffering from, combined with being in a big city, with new people and no idea what I was doing here. I just had no idea what to do and my parents had no clue either; having never been to university. I manage to struggle through most of my courses, spending hours studying but not much sticking with me. It didn't help second term that I lost two aunts within a month's span which made it a really hard year.
I'm in second year now and I knew things had to be different; I needed to seek help. I heard in second year you could talk to an academic councilor so the first thing I did was go to academic advisement. I also went to career services and to the learning commons and booked an appointment with a learning strategist. I had a plan in line to overcome everything for my second year when I suffered another concussion at Midterms fall 2014. I've since had to defer exams because of the worsen effects of my third concussion for two concussions in a year and a half.
My plan for achieving academic success includes taking a reduced semester for Winter/2015, in order to get everything sorted out and continue to heal so that I may get better and get back on track. This summer I plan on not taking any summer courses in order to give myself ample time to rest and recover. I believe that along with the assistance of the medical help I am seeking and the academic support services at Queen's, I may get back on track and hopefully return in the fall healed. I have discussed the options with disability and academic advisement and I probably will end up taking an extra year to finish my degree but I'm ok with that. I just want to finally be better and be able to carry out my dream of graduating from Queen's.
I sincerely thank you in advance for hearing me out on this issue and I hope you will take everything into consideration with your decision on my appeal.
Sincerely,
Ashley Buske