Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

I am petitioning to apply for a late drop for PHAR 100, PSYC 251, CISC 204 (Fall), CISC 204 (Winter), PSYC 221, PSYC 241, PSYC 325.

Previously in the fall semester, I submitted a petition to drop PSYC 370 and was approved, but would like to drop the rest of the courses stated above. The circumstances explained in that letter led my mental health into a severe depressive episode that lasted until May. Unfortunately, I struggled the whole school year (2022-2023) and found it difficult to improve my health at the time as new stressors continuously arised. I increasingly struggled with financial stress since my mom left for the Philippines in January and my sister (age 19), who is dependent on my mom’s income, was home alone, and I had to increase my responsibilities as an older sister. There was also an event in December with a sexual partner that ended bad and I became more anxious and struggled mentally. At the end of the fall semester, I did not achieve the grades I needed and continued to falter in my confidence of self-worth. I was unable to take a year off away from school due to the pressure of graduating on time and did not want to disappoint my mom.

With these factors, I found it difficult to get out of my depressive episode and was unable to focus on school since I was overwhelmed. I kept getting distracted from my school work and did not prioritize accordingly. Despite taking antidepressants, having academic accommodations and using some of Queen’s mental health resources (Dialogue), I was battling my mental health and could not find the motivation to do well in class. However, my friends noticed that I was displaying ADHD symptoms and influenced me to research more. In the summer, I consulted my family doctor and she was able to prescribe me with medication to help with my condition. At the same time, my stressors were decreasing and I was improving my lifestyle. I no longer needed to take my antidepressants. Ever since I started taking ADHD medication, I am able to find the motivation to complete tasks and organize my responsibilities with less distractions.

My next step is to continue to learn more about my condition and regularly meet with a medical professional to help me explore better ways of coping with ADHD. I have set up an appointment with a counsellor to aid in my success of continuing and exploring more healthy habits with this new condition. The diagnosis explains my previous academic struggles and changed my perspective and confidence in achieving my academic goals. My goal is to graduate with a Bachelor’s of Computing and with these courses dropped, I can have a better GPA standing that fulfills the program’s requirements. I have received permission for Work Study opportunities and have been actively applying for part-time jobs for the school year to become financially stable. I plan to take either 3 or 4 courses for both semesters to have a lighter course load.

I truly have better and higher hopes for myself this year and hope you take this letter into consideration.

With best regards,

Princess Viernes (she/her)
20234269