I'm not sure if that's legible enough, but it appears that my university has finally accepted that I was unable to complete my assignments or apply for mitigating circumstances two years ago.
I still can't get my head around the idea of a bureaucratic system working in my favour. It has been a bit like pounding my face against a brick wall getting my university to accept that you don't have to be in hospital to be ill. Pretty sure this would have never happened without the support from my lecturers and counsellors and I can't believe how lucky I am.
Seems a bit of a none-event but it basically means that my grades won't be penalised by University of Wolverhampton due to mental health problems, which has been a lot harder to establish than what one would initially suspect.
Support ranged from:
- being laughed at in my face for suggesting this was unfair and trying to fight against it (student union, you guys needed to step up there)
- my lecturers telling me that it was totally unfair and that I needed to fight against it
- the student office telling me that my lecturers were greatly misinformed and needed to be re-educated on this topic
- counsellors and doctors both looking very doubtful as to whether or not I would succeed but assisting me regardless (still had to pay Doctors £25 though)
- my lecturers telling me that the student office was incorrect on this matter and that I would need to talk to a specific person in the student office who seemed to acknowledge that it was indeed unfair
- finally being able to hand in my evidence to the correct person in the student office
- ten minutes later, recieving the above email stating "Hi Jessica your mitigation has been accepted for 2011/12. So the modules you are now taking will be classed as a first sit."
Because succeeding in this avenue appears to be quite unusual, I have taken the time here to provide some brief pointers as to how I did it:
1. Getting proof.
I needed a letter from a doctor to testify that I did have mental health problems between 2011/2012. Therefore it is important to seek out help for any suspected mental health problems, if nothing else to get somebody else to believe that you have them. I also needed a letter from a university counsellor to testify that I was unable to navigate the mitigating circumstances policy system at my university, so even if you don't find it helpful, counselling is also useful for providing official documentation that you are having problems.
2. Improving health
I had to take a year out to improve my health, and without it and the support of family and friends, I would have never been able to work as hard as I have this year had I not. Because of this, I was able to regularly establish my presence within the studio for my course, and this meant that my lecturers could acknowledge that my circumstances were now radically different and being penalised for this was unfair.
3. Getting lecturers on your side.
I was fortunate to hit upon a really good research topic for an assignment which received a very high grade which made the university policy of giving me an automatic D for re-sitting seem extra silly. This gave a higher profile among staff in my department, who went on to give me really great support which led to me being able to speak to the right people in the student office who would be able to listen to my account and see that the standard university policy wasn't adequate for covering my circumstances.
If all of this seems very convoluted and circumstantial,
that's because it is.
On the one hand, I am thrilled that sense has finally prevailed, but on the other, I think about the students who won't have the fortune or support I recieved. There are people in subjects with bigger class sizes who won't get noticed, people who have yet to be diagnosed, people who don't get as good grades, people who don't have the resources to take leaves of absences to get better and all of this greatly bothers me.
Winning a battle is not the same as winning a war. I don't know how else I can change things.
