“Why do you get an extension on your assignment?” “Why do you get extra time on exams?” “How come you get notes sent to you from class, can’t you take them yourself?”
For those of you who have struggled with a chronic illness, mental illness, brain injury or anything else that requires you to use extra assistance in your university life, you have definitely been asked at least one of those questions, if not all of them, at some point throughout your university career.
Being in university while struggling with your own personal health is never easy, at least not in my own experience. Most of the time, people don’t take the time to ask why you need extra assistance with note taking, or extra time on exams, they jump straight to “well aren’t you lucky, if I had all those accommodations in place I would do well too”. But it doesn’t exactly work like that, most of us registered with Student Accessibility Services at Guelph wouldn’t be able to attend university if it wasn’t for the assistance of the university.
I never expected to come to university and use accommodations, as a matter of fact, I didn’t use them in my first semester and it back fired big time. Now I have a poor average trailing behind me that brings my overall average down, even though I’ve brought it up over 15% since my first semester. So why didn’t I just use the accommodations that were put in place for me? Because my peers judged me and in turn I judged myself. I didn’t want to feel stupid, I didn’t want to have to lump myself in with a group of people that I assumed were just lazy and used these accommodations so they didn’t have to try as hard – truth is, I can’t manage university without extra time on exams and the ability to write in a quiet room, or to have my notes sent to me every week, because I can’t focus on the lecture and taking notes.
The students that struggle daily with their health are fighters; they are genuinely strong people. They manage to get themselves out of bed every day and go to class even if they don’t feel good. They get their assignments done (yes sometimes with a little extra help), they study for their finals and midterms and they write the same one as everyone else (sometimes with a little extra time). We need to stop assuming that students registered with SAS are lazy, and are privileged because they get all this extra help because honestly I would rather be in university with NO help at all. I would rather not have to struggle every day with my own health.
Shout out to the students who send me notes every single week, I have no idea who you are but you are more appreciated than you will ever know.
So next time you hear a student say they get extra time on their exams or their notes sent to them, don’t judge them or think it’s unfair that you don’t get the same help. Be thankful that you’re healthy and can attend school without any assistance; I think most people registered with SAS would agree with me when I say – I wish I could be in your position.