Long story short, my house caught on fire from a grass fire behind us. It destroyed parts of our house while the rest is covered in toxic smoke. Obviously devastated. This happened about 5 days ago. Now I’m staying at my aunt’s until we move into a rental home. I’m finding it VERY hard to concentrate on finishing homework. I’m usually a A-B average student, , but with all that’s happening, I’m not in the right headspace to do anything, especially writing essays. I belive I’m suffering from mild PTSD, I just can’t concentrate for more than 20 min without drifting into space. And I had dreams of the fire, and breif boughts of depression. I’m also getting episodes of anxiety because I don’t want to get bad grades because of this event, it’s not fair :’( Not to mention the fact that college is so close to my home, and when I drive in the area, I get memories of life before the fire, which makes me cry and become depressed. I just wish I can put a pause button on school until I’m mentally ready to continue. Sorry my writing is all over the place, I’m just overwhelmed with worry and all kinds of emotions. Has anybody been through a disaster like this while attending college?
Talk to your professors to let them know what’s going on. See if they’ll let you negotiate extensions on your work.
See if you can get a note from a medical professional, this would certainly qualify as an extenuating circumstance.
Contact your college’s mental health services and seek counseling. No shame in getting some help dealing with a very upsetting and stressful situation. Talk to your professors and see if you can get some space to work through this a bit. Most people will be willing to work with you so that you can sort through this and get back on track.
My son’s college has an admin person in charge of dealing with this sort of thing. He then contacts all your professors and tells them what is going on (large state U). Contact your college’s mental health services and ask what they have in place. Also check with your academic advisor. He may be able to be the buffer between you and your teachers. There is help available in most schools for events like this.