annekatherine86
01-09-2007, 10:11 PM
Ohhh… college…. Boy….lol
Well the whole experience in general has pretty much sucked for me, which has made to grow to hate it. We start on the 16th, and I am not a happy camper. I’ll tell you a bit about how my “college experience” has been this far. First, for future reference, my school has an absurd attendance policy, in that the professor makes their own, and puts it in the syllabus. And according to the university, if it is in the syllabus, there is nothing that a higher authority can do regarding absences. Even if you are registered w/ the schools office of disabilities, the prof. has all the authority over attendance. The office of dis. pretty much tells you to avoid teachers with attendance policies like that. To which I have inquired as to why they do not provide a list of professors with ridiculously stupid syllabi. In other words, if the professor’s syllabus says that you can only miss three days regardless of whether or not you have dr.’s excuses, and if you miss more than that you fail, then the school won’t do anything. And you had better make sure you don’t miss more than 3 days unless you are dead. Pretty unfair huh? Unless they have recently declared them interchangeable, the processes of scheduling my classes and guessing-the-professors-attendance-policy are not the same thing. Oh, and in reference to the school recognizing IC as a disability and making accommodations, I tried that. The disabilities office told me the most they could do for me was let me potty during class, and that was only if the professor agreed. This was because, according to the person I spoke with (on multiple occasions), the school didn’t have IC listed as a disability, or whatever. Now, I think he just didn’t feel like dealing with it because it wasn’t something simple like having to have extra test time b/c I was ADD.
So my story goes a bit like this: I was diagnosed my senior year of h/s, but it didn’t bother me too much then, nothing like it does now. My first semester went well until I started with nausea and vomiting nonsense. I missed my final business exam because I was throwing up in the parking lot, and even after they diagnosed my stomach ulcers, he would not allow me to make it up. Strike One. Then the second semester came along. Of course, right before school started I got a cold, which lingered forever and eventually turned into bronchitis. The whole time I was sick ( a period of about a month since the cold began) I was coughing continuously, and about a week into the coughing and cold, my ribs started to hurt. To an extent, that is normal with severe coughing, but when I started hearing things pop, I got a bit concerned. So I went back to the doc for X-ray, which showed no broken ribs, of course, and the doc sent me home in tears with directions to “take some Aleve.” At that point, I decided he was an idiot. The coughing continued for a few more weeks and finally dwindled away. I was so relieved! About a week or so after my cough disappeared, it returned, only this time I got really sick, very quickly. So of course I dragged myself back to the doc, ( a different one this time) he did another chest x-rays for pneumonia, and just my luck, nothing showed up. He sent me home with a z-pack. That night I woke up with a fever of almost 103. The next day, I was back at the doctors office, which quickly became like my second home, and he decided to do some other test for pneumonia, I think a CT scan. Well, sure enough….I had pneumonia. This doc was a bit smarter, I think. Well, yes he is. I like him. All the while, I continued coughing; and with the coughing, came the popping and the tears. So I had another x-ray, but it didn’t show any broken ribs. Growl….more Aleve. Two weeks later or so, I had to go in for a check up, and when he pushed on my ribs, I almost kicked him in the face. Hehe… I thought it was rather amusing. It was like I was saying I told you so! And he had a kind of “oh, geee….maybe they do hurt” look on his face. After his close call to facial reconstruction, he decided to send me to have a test that is much more detailed than an x-ray, I forgot what this is too, but I know I was very radioactive. [This is off the subject, but after that test, I went to my dad’s office to eat crawfish, and he has this hand-held machine thing that measures radioactivity. So, just for laughs, they decided to put it next to me. Well, I was so radioactive, that it was off the chart. To which my dad, with his witty sense of humor says “I could be shut down for having you here!” So, I was the joke of the day! Lol I thought that was funny…] Anyway, this test showed that four of my ribs were broken. So all this time, which was probably about two months, maybe two and a half, I had been going to school with pneumonia and four broken ribs. My professors knew all of this, had talked to my parents, had the doctor’s excuses, and still REQUIRED me to bring my books to class, supported by a set of ribs, four of which were broken. And to top it off, after having missed close to 3 weeks of school, I was expected to take the exams I had missed the day I returned. I was ******! (excuse my language) I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, but at this point I dropped out for the semester. I couldn’t have passed with Einstein helping me. Oh, and the broken bones is how I found out about the osteoporosis. So the summer goes by, and in the fall I am in school, and going to class like the good little student I am. I was still suffering with the IC, but at the time it wasn’t complicated by 34928359 other things, so I was making it. Towards the end of the semester, I started having the pain in my right side again, which ended up being another cyst, but I sucked it up and finished the semester. After the cyst ordeal, it was one thing after another; pain and fatigue, a bladder infection, and the list goes on. All of this really disgruntled my bladder, so I ended up having to have another cystoscopy done, and was told the IC was worse. BUT, I remained optimistic, thinking that I could have it done, deal with it, and get through school. Which I could have, had my professors actually cared. Before the procedure, I told my professors what was going on, got what I would miss, etc etc, and still thought that I MIGHT ACTUALLY have a chance. Well, I returned to school, and went to talk to my English prof. the day before my class. You know, just to keep her up to date on everything, let her know I care and I’m not just a slacker, give her my excuse, AND to hand in a paper that I had written while I was out (and on pain pills). Let me say first, that I had already handed in 2 papers in this class and my grade at the time was an A. So anyway, when I told her that I was there to talk to her, and give her my paper, before I could finish my sentence, her response, and I quote, was “You might as well not waste my time or yours [by being there to talk to her], because you’ve missed 5 days of class, and only three are allowed. So, I’ll fail you anyway.” At that point, I was pretty much in shock that someone could be that cold-hearted, but I figured I’d drop the class and see what the others would say. She would get what she deserves eventually, maybe some ketchup on her shirt that day, who knows…. Well it ended in that the only prof. that worked with me was my algebra prof, and I could just thank him for the rest of my life. It made me realize that some people in the world do have a heart. The thing with my eng. Prof. and me missing too many days of class has pretty much been the story for all of the classes I have had to drop. That was just the worst one. I guess because of how she handled it, it stuck out in my mind a lot. That was last fall, and I took this semester off. And that is just one example.
Anyway, like I said, school starts in a few days, and I am going back, yet again. But I am prepared! Before hand, I was so used to it, I just took what they said and dealt with it. Not to mention I really didn’t think there was anything I could do. But now I realize that they can’t not allow me to get an education just because they have never heard of IC, and I am going to make that very apparent to anyone who tells me that I have to drop the class, they will fail me, or that if I leave class to potty I can’t come back. That is absurd. I am in the process of getting my stuff together to apply for disability, my uncle is my lawyer, and I recently found out that my dad and the VP of the university are good friends. I guess it just recently dawned on my dad that I should talk to him. It’s ok though, b/c my dad is a very busy man, so I understand he has a lot on his mind. So, for any of you who have actually read my short novel here, I have devised a plan of action, and if you have any ideas, throw them at me.
1) First things first, talk to all of them on the first day of school, as well as present them with a letter I have written explaining my condition and a letter from my uro. Even though this has failed ever other try. 2) If I have to potty, by golly, I am going to get up and go to the bathroom! And if they don’t let me back in class, I’ll probably make a scene. I’m good at that when it is called for, and I am just so fed up with all of this, it may be called for. I’m not saying I’m going to be ridiculous or anything ( I hope), but I’m surely not going to hold back from putting them in their place, whether it is in front of the class or not. I know you may think that is disrespectful, which yes, I could see how it could be. But every time I think about how many times I’ve sat in the hall waiting for class to be over so I could get my books, because even after knocking on the door they wouldn’t let me back in, and every time I’ve been asked to stay after class to “talk about my disruptions”, or been asked what “ I thought I was doing, getting up in the middle of a lecture,” I really just don’t care anymore. If it takes me embarrassing a few professors just to stand up for myself, than so be it. 3) If someone gives me trouble about missing class although they are excused, I’ll present a letter from my lawyer (uncle) concerning my condition, as well as it’s classification as a disability. 4) If all else fails…….. I plan to file a lawsuit against the school and whichever professor that decides I’m not worth their time, or that just doesn’t care. I’m pretty sure that would get their attention. This is just until I am approved for disability, which I know can be a long process. After that, they have to accommodate me or they won’t be funded. For as extreme as this may sound, I really don’t have any other options. I’ve done everything. It really is sad, and makes me want to give up, but I want a degree (I don’t know what in yet), and I feel that going in there this semester and not just standing up for myself, but taking action -- however extreme it may be-- is the only way to get what I deserve, not to mention what my dad pays for, and that is an education. I’m not going to let another semester that I invest all of my energy into go to waste. I took this past semester off, which I needed, so this will be fifth-attempted semester. Two of which I had to withdraw from, and the other three have given me a grand total of 16 hours! I feel like I’ve been robbed of the last three years of school. I could almost be finished. I don’t have to go to class to do well, and it shouldn’t matter whether or not I do go, especially if it’s medical reasons. How hard is it for people to just let me go to school and do well like I know I can do? I’m really sorry this is so long. I really needed to vent and get some feedback. If I am being unreasonable, please, tell me. I’m just frustrated and nervous. I just want to be able to go to school and learn. That’s all I ask! Really, is that too much to ask for?
-Anne Katherine
Well the whole experience in general has pretty much sucked for me, which has made to grow to hate it. We start on the 16th, and I am not a happy camper. I’ll tell you a bit about how my “college experience” has been this far. First, for future reference, my school has an absurd attendance policy, in that the professor makes their own, and puts it in the syllabus. And according to the university, if it is in the syllabus, there is nothing that a higher authority can do regarding absences. Even if you are registered w/ the schools office of disabilities, the prof. has all the authority over attendance. The office of dis. pretty much tells you to avoid teachers with attendance policies like that. To which I have inquired as to why they do not provide a list of professors with ridiculously stupid syllabi. In other words, if the professor’s syllabus says that you can only miss three days regardless of whether or not you have dr.’s excuses, and if you miss more than that you fail, then the school won’t do anything. And you had better make sure you don’t miss more than 3 days unless you are dead. Pretty unfair huh? Unless they have recently declared them interchangeable, the processes of scheduling my classes and guessing-the-professors-attendance-policy are not the same thing. Oh, and in reference to the school recognizing IC as a disability and making accommodations, I tried that. The disabilities office told me the most they could do for me was let me potty during class, and that was only if the professor agreed. This was because, according to the person I spoke with (on multiple occasions), the school didn’t have IC listed as a disability, or whatever. Now, I think he just didn’t feel like dealing with it because it wasn’t something simple like having to have extra test time b/c I was ADD.
So my story goes a bit like this: I was diagnosed my senior year of h/s, but it didn’t bother me too much then, nothing like it does now. My first semester went well until I started with nausea and vomiting nonsense. I missed my final business exam because I was throwing up in the parking lot, and even after they diagnosed my stomach ulcers, he would not allow me to make it up. Strike One. Then the second semester came along. Of course, right before school started I got a cold, which lingered forever and eventually turned into bronchitis. The whole time I was sick ( a period of about a month since the cold began) I was coughing continuously, and about a week into the coughing and cold, my ribs started to hurt. To an extent, that is normal with severe coughing, but when I started hearing things pop, I got a bit concerned. So I went back to the doc for X-ray, which showed no broken ribs, of course, and the doc sent me home in tears with directions to “take some Aleve.” At that point, I decided he was an idiot. The coughing continued for a few more weeks and finally dwindled away. I was so relieved! About a week or so after my cough disappeared, it returned, only this time I got really sick, very quickly. So of course I dragged myself back to the doc, ( a different one this time) he did another chest x-rays for pneumonia, and just my luck, nothing showed up. He sent me home with a z-pack. That night I woke up with a fever of almost 103. The next day, I was back at the doctors office, which quickly became like my second home, and he decided to do some other test for pneumonia, I think a CT scan. Well, sure enough….I had pneumonia. This doc was a bit smarter, I think. Well, yes he is. I like him. All the while, I continued coughing; and with the coughing, came the popping and the tears. So I had another x-ray, but it didn’t show any broken ribs. Growl….more Aleve. Two weeks later or so, I had to go in for a check up, and when he pushed on my ribs, I almost kicked him in the face. Hehe… I thought it was rather amusing. It was like I was saying I told you so! And he had a kind of “oh, geee….maybe they do hurt” look on his face. After his close call to facial reconstruction, he decided to send me to have a test that is much more detailed than an x-ray, I forgot what this is too, but I know I was very radioactive. [This is off the subject, but after that test, I went to my dad’s office to eat crawfish, and he has this hand-held machine thing that measures radioactivity. So, just for laughs, they decided to put it next to me. Well, I was so radioactive, that it was off the chart. To which my dad, with his witty sense of humor says “I could be shut down for having you here!” So, I was the joke of the day! Lol I thought that was funny…] Anyway, this test showed that four of my ribs were broken. So all this time, which was probably about two months, maybe two and a half, I had been going to school with pneumonia and four broken ribs. My professors knew all of this, had talked to my parents, had the doctor’s excuses, and still REQUIRED me to bring my books to class, supported by a set of ribs, four of which were broken. And to top it off, after having missed close to 3 weeks of school, I was expected to take the exams I had missed the day I returned. I was ******! (excuse my language) I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, but at this point I dropped out for the semester. I couldn’t have passed with Einstein helping me. Oh, and the broken bones is how I found out about the osteoporosis. So the summer goes by, and in the fall I am in school, and going to class like the good little student I am. I was still suffering with the IC, but at the time it wasn’t complicated by 34928359 other things, so I was making it. Towards the end of the semester, I started having the pain in my right side again, which ended up being another cyst, but I sucked it up and finished the semester. After the cyst ordeal, it was one thing after another; pain and fatigue, a bladder infection, and the list goes on. All of this really disgruntled my bladder, so I ended up having to have another cystoscopy done, and was told the IC was worse. BUT, I remained optimistic, thinking that I could have it done, deal with it, and get through school. Which I could have, had my professors actually cared. Before the procedure, I told my professors what was going on, got what I would miss, etc etc, and still thought that I MIGHT ACTUALLY have a chance. Well, I returned to school, and went to talk to my English prof. the day before my class. You know, just to keep her up to date on everything, let her know I care and I’m not just a slacker, give her my excuse, AND to hand in a paper that I had written while I was out (and on pain pills). Let me say first, that I had already handed in 2 papers in this class and my grade at the time was an A. So anyway, when I told her that I was there to talk to her, and give her my paper, before I could finish my sentence, her response, and I quote, was “You might as well not waste my time or yours [by being there to talk to her], because you’ve missed 5 days of class, and only three are allowed. So, I’ll fail you anyway.” At that point, I was pretty much in shock that someone could be that cold-hearted, but I figured I’d drop the class and see what the others would say. She would get what she deserves eventually, maybe some ketchup on her shirt that day, who knows…. Well it ended in that the only prof. that worked with me was my algebra prof, and I could just thank him for the rest of my life. It made me realize that some people in the world do have a heart. The thing with my eng. Prof. and me missing too many days of class has pretty much been the story for all of the classes I have had to drop. That was just the worst one. I guess because of how she handled it, it stuck out in my mind a lot. That was last fall, and I took this semester off. And that is just one example.
Anyway, like I said, school starts in a few days, and I am going back, yet again. But I am prepared! Before hand, I was so used to it, I just took what they said and dealt with it. Not to mention I really didn’t think there was anything I could do. But now I realize that they can’t not allow me to get an education just because they have never heard of IC, and I am going to make that very apparent to anyone who tells me that I have to drop the class, they will fail me, or that if I leave class to potty I can’t come back. That is absurd. I am in the process of getting my stuff together to apply for disability, my uncle is my lawyer, and I recently found out that my dad and the VP of the university are good friends. I guess it just recently dawned on my dad that I should talk to him. It’s ok though, b/c my dad is a very busy man, so I understand he has a lot on his mind. So, for any of you who have actually read my short novel here, I have devised a plan of action, and if you have any ideas, throw them at me.
1) First things first, talk to all of them on the first day of school, as well as present them with a letter I have written explaining my condition and a letter from my uro. Even though this has failed ever other try. 2) If I have to potty, by golly, I am going to get up and go to the bathroom! And if they don’t let me back in class, I’ll probably make a scene. I’m good at that when it is called for, and I am just so fed up with all of this, it may be called for. I’m not saying I’m going to be ridiculous or anything ( I hope), but I’m surely not going to hold back from putting them in their place, whether it is in front of the class or not. I know you may think that is disrespectful, which yes, I could see how it could be. But every time I think about how many times I’ve sat in the hall waiting for class to be over so I could get my books, because even after knocking on the door they wouldn’t let me back in, and every time I’ve been asked to stay after class to “talk about my disruptions”, or been asked what “ I thought I was doing, getting up in the middle of a lecture,” I really just don’t care anymore. If it takes me embarrassing a few professors just to stand up for myself, than so be it. 3) If someone gives me trouble about missing class although they are excused, I’ll present a letter from my lawyer (uncle) concerning my condition, as well as it’s classification as a disability. 4) If all else fails…….. I plan to file a lawsuit against the school and whichever professor that decides I’m not worth their time, or that just doesn’t care. I’m pretty sure that would get their attention. This is just until I am approved for disability, which I know can be a long process. After that, they have to accommodate me or they won’t be funded. For as extreme as this may sound, I really don’t have any other options. I’ve done everything. It really is sad, and makes me want to give up, but I want a degree (I don’t know what in yet), and I feel that going in there this semester and not just standing up for myself, but taking action -- however extreme it may be-- is the only way to get what I deserve, not to mention what my dad pays for, and that is an education. I’m not going to let another semester that I invest all of my energy into go to waste. I took this past semester off, which I needed, so this will be fifth-attempted semester. Two of which I had to withdraw from, and the other three have given me a grand total of 16 hours! I feel like I’ve been robbed of the last three years of school. I could almost be finished. I don’t have to go to class to do well, and it shouldn’t matter whether or not I do go, especially if it’s medical reasons. How hard is it for people to just let me go to school and do well like I know I can do? I’m really sorry this is so long. I really needed to vent and get some feedback. If I am being unreasonable, please, tell me. I’m just frustrated and nervous. I just want to be able to go to school and learn. That’s all I ask! Really, is that too much to ask for?
-Anne Katherine