:(

[green]

I'm on financial aid suspension. Unless I come up with a damned good appeal, I'm not going back to school.

I don't know what to do. I've been wrapped up and looking forward to going back to school for months. I started going back to therapy just so I could get over the agoraphobia enough to attend classes. And now I might not even be able to go? This is such bullshit.

And I don't have a good enough excuse for my appeal. They want something like a physical disability or death in the family. :((((((

Comments

[schemingreader]

Ask your therapist to write a letter. You were feeling sufficiently disabled by the mental health issues that you were considering filing for disability, and I assume you didn't mainly in order to be able to keep going to school.

The letter should explain how severe the disability is and what steps you are taking to cope with it. Unless they said in their letter, "Mental illnesses are not real and we deny their existence, na na na boo boo," you have to tell the truth.

[green]

But the reason I messed up my GPA the first semester I attended was because I was a stupid teenager who would rather go off with boys and play pool than go to class. I failed all my classes. (the second semester I attended, I got all As and Bs, but my GPA was already shot from the first semester and now I don't know what to do. I can't really appeal on solid ground because I don't have a good reason for the mess up.)

[schemingreader]

Wait, when was your first semester? I'm confused about the sequence of events.

[green]

My first semester was when I was 16, after I got my GED.

[schemingreader]

You were a teenager! Now you're an adult! It's time to write a long appeal.

[green]

Their examples for appeal circumstances are things like 'death in the family' and 'serious illness' and stuff. :\ But I will definitely try to do this! I will appeal, I just hope they don't throw it out because my reason isn't good enough.

[schemingreader]

How many years ago did you win the scholarship? Are there other scholarships available to mature students returning to school? I would be delighted to help you with writing this if you need a beta-reader.

How did it happen that you went to college early? Were you bright and bored in high school?

[green]

It's for a Pell grant, the basic federal financial aid. When I first started, I had the Pell grant and also Veteran's financial aid (because of my dad). I can't get the Vet's anymore because I'm too old, but I could still get three years worth of Pell grant money under normal circumstances.

I had to drop out of high school early and get my GED because I kept having panic attacks when I went to school. I still have no idea what caused them.

I don't even know where to start with this appeal. I'll talk to my therapist about it tomorrow.

[schemingreader]

"I had to drop out of high school early and get my GED because I kept having panic attacks when I went to school. I still have no idea what caused them."

You can make a very good case for mental health issues affecting your school performance when you were 16, even if you think "I was just shooting pool with the boys." Your narrative is, you have a history of panic attacks and agoraphobia that was severe enough to affect your previous school performance, but you are now old enough to have figured out how to manage your disability.

Contact the school counselor office, whatever they call it, and ask for an appointment with them. You need to be able to get back to school! You are smart and you crave intellectual stimulation!

[florahart]

This.

This office might be called something like called Disability Services, and might be housed under maybe Student Services or Academic Advising. Tell them your whole story as best you can, and ask them to help you write this story for your appeal in a way that is not untruthful, but which is most likely to meet the needs of the folks reviewing the appeals.

Their job is to help students with issues that block their learning stay in school; that's what you have and want; their job, therefore, is to help you.

Also, I would note, nearly every year one or two of my student staff have some kind of hold on their FA, often for reasons that seem ridiculous. It's not SO unusual, and the folks dealing with it at my U often just need *some* documentation, not *untenable amounts* of documentation.

ETA: oh, and. Tell them upfront that because part of your issue is an anxiety/panic thing, the fact of this happening is creating enough stress to make it hard for you to think about it (my sense is that's how you're feeling? I could be wrong). I think when people tell me they understand they're having a hard time thinking something through, it tends to cause me to understand what otherwise looks like frustrating flailing, which is my fault that I'm sucking at looking at what's going on, but still, it can't hurt to tell them, y'know?

[green]

Yes, it is very stressful. I think I will feel much better tomorrow after I talk to my therapist about this. And I'll talk to her about the disability services department and what I should do.

I am trying not to flail. :)

[ladycat]

I will never understand how someone can hold a semester that happened years ago against someone who clearly figured out they were not ready for school, then went out and got ready.

I'd suggest the therapist route, actually. A note to explain "Hi, these things happened a while ago, they have no freaking bearing on today".

Oh, baby, I'm so sorry *hugs*

[green]

*snuggles*

[turlough]

Grrrrr!!! I wish I'd some magic trick that would make everything work out for you. Or eve that I'd some foolproof advice to what you should do. As it is I can just point upwards to what others have told you and send you all the love and good and positive thoughts I can find.

[green]

Love and good thoughts are all I need, bb. Thank you. *hugs*

[waketosleep]

Try to put a clear academic plan in your appeal; it helps to show that you've got some direction for your education. I think it's bullshit that a semester of uni when you were fucking 16 can fuck up your adult life. I think most 16-year-olds in uni are like that; fuck knows a lot of 18-year-olds are. Going back as a mature student is usually a whole different ballgame. Sigh. Good luck with your appeal, I hope it works!

[green]

Thank you for the advice!

[adafrog]

Well crap. {{{hugs}}}

[green]

Thanks. :)

[aberrant1]

Ugh. The good thing is that, dealing with the government, often as long as they have a piece of paper with the proper signatures on it, that's all they need. I got more ridiculous exceptions and appeals and "yes, this student really does need this class for her major" things through than I had any right to. The VA alone sent me a "prove you need this class" paper every single semester, and all I had to do was get someone more or less official to sign it and that was good enough for them.

I think all colleges should have a "things you did before you turned 21 do not count" policy for returning students.

[butilikethewayyouplay]

Doesn't mental illness + primary caregiver to special needs child = death in the family? Why did we learn all that math if we can't use it for real world applications?

*superhugs* Oh, bb, I am pulling for you hard. I hope you get this worked out.

[snarkasaurus]

your gpa won't matter. your mental illness will count. my pregnancy did. i promise, the suggestion to get your therapist to write a letter and attach it to your appeal should be enough. ~Hugs~

[mizubyte]

definitely contact SDS (student disability services) and ask for help writing your appeal. it's what they're there for, and you deserve to go to school! *hugs*

[snarkasaurus]

went to comment on the other entry, realized we aren't mutual friends here yet. oops. so i'll just say here that the letter is well drafted and i think it sounds klike you'll be reinstated. they let me back in after my pregnancy caused an issue, i don't see it being a problem for you.

[green]

Thank you, bb! I'll add you here, sorry about that. :)

[snarkasaurus]

we both did it, no worries! <3