So, for those who were desperately curious (ha!), my appeal was approved and I'm getting my financial aid back. Yay! It only took however many weeks to confirm that yes, I'm a good student in good academic standing, and yes, I earned those scholarships and definitely need them. I am so relieved right now.
The dumb thing about this is, I have to schedule a meeting with a retention specialist. To discuss my academic plan. And to write an agreement about my study habits and academic goals. So they can measure my progress and determine whether I can keep my financial aid in the coming semesters. Didn't we JUST confirm that getting good grades is not an issue for me???
The best part? The letter I got says that, following this meeting, I can expect my aid to be reinstated "next semester." Oh no, honey. I will have it back THIS semester, because THIS is the semester during which I'm wasting precious study time to deal with this little crisis. I am really glad that I will be getting it back, but literally, the amount of running around I am doing to get past this very expensive technicality is insane.
Thanks for letting me share. I'm just filled with feelings right now about everything, and this is definitely included. And I really need to get back to studying, but I am so exhausted I don't even know that it will make a difference, so here I am for a little while.