I was hoping it wouldn't come to this

[kareina]

I have just sent a letter to the secretary of the Archaeology department, requesting time off from my degree 

This letter is to request a year-long extension to my degree timeline.  This request is being made for a variety of personal reasons, including:

• I am still mourning the two recent (late August; only one week apart) deaths of loved ones in Alaska, one close cousin, and one beloved friend (at I time when it was impossible to return to Alaska grieve with my friends and family)
• High levels of personal stress related to:
  • Having fallen behind in my research progress after travelling to Seattle in November of 2018 to spend time with my mother before her death that December of 2018.
  • Falling further behind in my research progress this winter, after hitting a second period of mourning triggered by the anniversary of that trip and my mother's death
  • Major uncertainties in my current personal living situation and relationship which may or may not result in one of us needing to buy the other out of the house (at a time when there are zero comparable properties available in the area, making us both extremely reluctant to be the one to move)
  • The need to obtain a replacement for my current half time job (which will end on 2 December)
  • Still waiting, more than eight weeks after applying, for the Swedish Immigration office to approve the extended visitor's visa for a dear friend to come live with me for a year while she does her internship for her Master's degree in Dance Anthropology with my local folk dance group
    • Fears that her visa might get rejected, just because she happens to be an Iranian citizen, even though I really want her here, and this would be the perfect place for her to be while she finishes up her degree).
• Additional stresses related to:
  • The pandemic and all that implies
  • Worries for my sisters and their families, and for many of my friends, all of whom live near the extensive forest fires in the Pacific Northwest States.
  • Background worries for the worsening political situation my family and friends are living under in the US and fears that the unstable situation there might spark more global issues

While any one of these would not be sufficient to require time off, taken together they really are beginning to feel overwhelming.  Therefore,  I would like to suspend my current degree program for a year.  It is my hope that I if I take off Michaelmas term this year and both Epiphany and Easter terms in 2021 that it would be enough time to get my personal situation straightened out, so that I can resume my studies with Michaelmas term of 2021. I believe that such an extension would change the end of my supervised study date to March of 2025, if, when I resume, it is still on a half-time basis.  

 

It will be interesting what kind of reply I get. I suspect that is enough of a list to get the suspension approved.

Comments

[ursula]

Yeah, this year is a lot. I hope you're able to work something out!

[katerit]

I hope they consider how much you are processing and dealing with.

[kareina]

My supervisors met with me via video call for an hour today, and were both super supportive. They encourage me to get some counselling to try to solve some of the underlying issues so that I can come back to it later, if I want.