PLEASE LOOK OVER MY APPEAL LETTER AND GIVE FEEDBACK
Dear XXXX:
I am a freshman at Texas Woman’s University. I received a financial aid suspension notification due to my SAP. Prior to attending this university, I attended Houston Community College in 2009. During that time, I was a victim of domestic violence, which resulted in me receiving incompletes for the courses that I was enrolled in. In 2010, an order of protection was sought out for my newborn son and myself.
In February 2016, I made a decision to attend TWU for Social Work. The joy that I felt abruptly ended when I received a phone call that a very close cousin passed away in July 2016. I tried my very best to cope and remain caught up on my assignments. However, I went into a deep depression. It became too overwhelming and I began weekly counseling sessions on campus with XXX. In those sessions, I learned coping strategies for grief and developed a plan to have a better semester in the spring. Consequently, my grades suffered in the fall semester. Being a full time employee, single mother of two, a full time student, it was concluded that taking less hours would be beneficial to my situation.
This past spring, my GPA improved tremendously and I was able to focus a lot more on my classes. However, I am disappointed in myself for not meeting the requirements to sustain financial aid. I do believe that with another semester I can achieve over and beyond the SAP requirement. The event of a sudden death of a family member is inevitable. However, I am now able to detect early signs of depression and I have a plan of action in the event that I feel myself slipping into a depressive state. I was informed by the counseling department on campus that I still have free appointments available and I have been given a list of outside resources.