Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Queens University Appeal Committee,

I am writing to request the appeal to drop PHAR 100, COGS 100, FILM 110 and HLTH 101, which were the result of unforeseen circumstances and mental health issues that significantly impacted my academic performance, please allow me to explain.

It all began in September, I was freshly admitted into the Queens University Arts & Science program and read to begin my journey here. I was never very academically accomplished and have always struggled with my learning; nonetheless, I was ready for a new chapter of my life. Picking courses was a struggle for me, I never really knew what my interests were or what I even wanted to do here at school in terms of projection/majoring, I chose some courses based on what I found interesting but also asked around about what others thought were interesting courses and so on. I ended up picking Economics and Entrepreneurship because it was something I have always been interested in and I was always quite good at it in high school, a friend of a friend had told me to take Pharmacology and Film as well suggesting they were quite interesting courses. I had a good start to my University career, I was doing my best to adjust to a new curriculum, new course load and living in a new province with no family or friends. I didn't struggle too hard and I had been trying my hardest to keep up, around midterm season I slowly started falling behind.

In the fall term reading break of 2021, I decided it was best for me to visit home In Vancouver, as I had never really spent much time away from my friends and family and felt I needed a reset. Three nights before I was due to fly back to Kingston I was involved in a horrific drunk driving accident, I was the passenger in a car with my two friends when we ended up flipping the vehicle multiple times driving over 110 km/h very late at night, this resulted in us being rescued and transported to the nearest hospital, at the time I was unaware the driver was intoxicated. I had cuts all along my face and I had severe whiplash, which didn't allow me to bend or extend my back whatsoever for almost 5 months, but most notably my mental health was severely negatively impacted, this incident changed my whole life in the blink of an eye. Even to this day I find it very hard to get the images of that accident out of my mind, but the months following the incident were a lot more severe, I was struggling to sleep, focus, eat and even just enjoy my everyday life without constantly thinking about it. Two days after this, I flew back to school here in Kingston, it probably wasn't the best decision, but I felt it was at the time, I have no family over here in Kingston only an older brother.

I felt like I was alone, stuck, and lost; I didn't know whom to talk to or how to reach out to anyone or even where to start. My academics started to get impacted, I felt so overwhelmed I stopped going to classes, stopped doing readings, skipped assignments and fell into a downward spiral, I started to use drugs/substances and alcohol to cope with the bad images and thoughts, and I had never been to therapy or counselling at the time and was honestly afraid to take the first step. I had always struggled with the Pharmacology class as it was very science-based and that was always a weak point for me, but I was getting by before the incident, afterwards, I really started to struggle in this class, my focus was super poor and every day felt like a struggle, I had no routine, I didn't socialize with anyone and spent a lot of time alone which only made matters worse, I was having flashbacks multiple times a day. I didn't try to get any accommodations whatsoever and it's something I regret to this day, I was afraid to reach out and didn't know where to start, I was afraid to talk to anyone about the incident. I had scheduled a couple of meetings with Queens Wellness but never ended up going out of sheer anxiety/fear.

I used the little amount of mental energy I had left to do work and assignments in the two classes I felt confident/comfortable in, ENIN 140 and ECON 101. I had always been well of in subjects like these in high school and there was a feeling of comfort in me when doing these however, for the classes FILM 110 and PHAR 100 it was the opposite, being in the position that I was in I felt like there was more for me to put my time and energy in than that. My mental health was at an all-time low and so was my physical health. I tried multiple times to get back on my feet but kept falling back into this spiral. I failed the Pharmacology final which caused me to fail the course but still hoped I would do fine in the second semester of Film.

In the second semester of first year, I picked up two new courses, HLTH102 and COGS100, wanting to give it another shot, thinking having spent some time at home for the winter break would've helped. I was wrong, the same thing kept happening repeatedly, although, I had tried to reach out for help and improve my lifestyle/habits. I was really struggling in COGS100 as it was a very science-based course with quite a heavy workload that I wasn't used to. I was doing slightly better in FILM110 but not enough to revive my fallen grade from the previous semester. HLTH102 was the one class where I felt like excelled, the class was pretty light, with only 1 two-part assignment, which consisted of fixing an issue relating to health in your life I saw it as an opportunity to improve my poor lifestyle, I really enjoyed that class and again in a way I found comfort in doing work for this class, I felt it used minimal effort and function from me. When exams came in April of first year I really was in a tough spot, still in my downward spiral I did extremely poorly on the COGS100 final, I didn't do so well on the ECON101 final either but it was my previous assignments which saved me from failing that course.

After a long summer of reflection and getting the help I needed, as well as time spent with my family and making healthier lifestyle choices. I felt like I was ready to take this new year on and was keeping a positive mindset and high hopes. I knew I hadn't done so well in the past semester and was limited in my course selection to mainly 100-level classes. I had chosen to slow things down and only take 3 courses during that semester so that I could really keep a steady pace and not get too overwhelmed in school, I took POLS110, DEVS100 and HLTH101, and I felt like I was doing better, going back to classes and more consistently, keeping up with course work and assignments and was on a good track. Fast forward to HOCO weekend, I witnessed an incident where my best friend/housemate was struck by a truck on Brock Street, I witnessed the whole thing, it was super graphic and it was really a horrible incident, I won't go into details about the event, I'm sure the school is familiar with this incident because the very next day, Queens Wellness reached out to me as they knew I was sort of involved in the incident and I went into counselling that very day, this is where I met Roger, a councillor at Queens Wellness services whom I saw, I had an appointment with him to just talk about what had gone on that previous day.

The following few days it felt like I was back at square one, right where I was roughly one year prior, I couldn't sleep properly, I couldn't eat, I stopped going to classes, I couldn't focus on anything, and started missing assignments and slowly back to my old unhealthy habits, my life was messy once again. This continued for the next few months and I ended up failing HLTH101 and I dropped my other two classes before the drop deadline.

I understand a matter of this significance should have certainly been addressed earlier, I would like to thank the University for its patience and apologize for the delay in delivery. I recognize this should've been dealt with sooner. I truly didn't know where to start, I had no idea that this was even an option, it took me a very long time to get the help I needed and get back on track with my life and mental health, as well as consistently attending therapy/counselling weekly, and meeting with my academic advisor on a regular basis. I've had a long recovery process and have finally felt like I am strong enough to write and submit this here appeal. This letter was not easy to write, thinking back and writing about a dark time in my life when I was mentally unwell, has been quite mentally challenging and exhausting, it has taken me a very long time to even build up the courage to come out here and draft this letter, as well as get my supporting documentation and balance my schoolwork and mental health all at the same time. I would like to take a moment to thank The University for all the help it has been for me, especially my academic advisor Haley Everson, Roger Davidson my councillor and Queens Student Wellness Services for being an amazing and kind-hearted community.

I understand that Queens University has strict policies on academic performance, but I believe my situation was beyond my control and severely affected my academic progress. I am now seeking help to address my mental health issues, and I am confident that I can overcome these challenges and perform better in the upcoming years of my academic journey.

I am writing this appeal to request the University to reconsider my academic performance and grant me a second chance to prove myself. I am willing to provide all necessary documentation to support my case, including medical records/certificates and reports from mental health professionals.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation for the University's commitment to providing a supportive environment for its students. I am confident that the University will take my situation into consideration and make a fair decision regarding my academic progress.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my appeal. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely

Eoghan Williams