Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Tuesday, October 17th, 2023

To whom it may concern,

My name is Rowan Jackson-Cappuccino (student number 20185678), I am currently a fifth-year Political Studies (major) and Global Development Studies (minor) student here at Queen’s University. I have written this letter to explain my reasoning for applying for a late drop, for the course titled POLS462 Studies in National Security. The course took place during the Fall Term of 2022. The instructor of the course was Dr. David G. Haglund, who after contacting via email has benevolently stated he will support my academic petition to have a late drop of this course. I failed the course and am looking to gain a late drop in order to not have a fail on my transcript. I will discuss later on both how the late drop option was brought to my attention and how I received support from an occupational therapist I saw through Queen’s Student Wellness. For the reasoning behind this late drop, I had a range of issues relating to mental, cognitive, and physical health that I believe holistically led me to struggle academically, as well as an in-person issues – in which I believe is in relation to health concerns – that further damaged my academic standing in this course.

Going into the Fall Term of 2022, I had already been seeing a therapist for issues like anxiety and a lack of motivation through Queen’s Student Wellness - albeit this was someone I started to see later on during the Winter Term of 2022. I was starting to have a lot of trouble keeping up academically due to a lack of motivation and anxiety, as well as due to having ADHD. The POLS462 course had two in-person seminars a week, one that took the form of a lecture earlier in the week and another that took the form of a smaller seminar, one that resembled a tutorial (but was not listed as a tutorial). The smaller seminar was instructed by what is called a “Canadian Forces Defence Fellow”. During the first smaller seminar I attended, I started to have what I believe was a panic attack, in which I had to leave the seminar. I attended another one of these smaller seminars and once again I believe I had a panic attack. I met with my Canadian Forces Defence Fellow, Colonel Ryan Jurkowski, in which I explained to him what was going on, he was very supportive of my situation. I avoided future seminars due to this. Seminars were marked for attendance and participation, hence being absent affected my grade. During this time, I was in contact with Queen’s Student Wellness who referred me to an Occupational Therapist, and I was able to receive a physician for my time at Queen’s since my family doctor closed his practice. I finished the term not gaining a passing grade in the course. Late in the term, which I believe was December 2022, I began to see an occupational therapist named Aimee Berard. I began to work with her in order to help me get by with daily tasks, both academic and non-academic. The occupational therapist brought to attention the option I have to late drop this course. She has written a letter of support for me to gain a late drop for this course, the letter is attached within the academic petition. As of now, I have a new occupational therapist through Queen’s Student Wellness as Aimee Berard has left for a new position of employment.

It is important to note that during the time of this course (Fall Term 2022), I was not receiving daily medication to help me deal with my ADHD. I had taken Ritalin in the past, but this was not prescribed as a daily medication, and I did not take it during the Fall Term 2022. I was able to see my new physician Dr. Heather Geddes at Queen’s Student Wellness during the Winter Term 2023, where she prescribed me Vyvanse to take daily with the goal of treating ADHD, allowing me to become more motivated, productive, and potentially mitigating anxiety through ADHD symptom mitigation. Not having this prescription during the time of the course arguably was a factor in my reasoning for gaining a late drop of the course.

It must be noted that I have had physical health issues that relate to my incompletion of this course. I had strep throat during October of 2022, as a result this also added to my absence from seminars. Additionally, during the time of the course I had potential physical health issues that were unresolved during that time – and currently are unresolved but have since had professional attention. These potential physical health issues added to anxiety and/or potentially realities that deterred me from succeeding in this course. One of them was potential heart problems. During the summer of 2022 I received a Holter monitor test from the Kingston General Hospital and got an echocardiogram. Both tests came back fine, but I was still getting checked on during the time of this course. This uncertainty was likely what scared me during these assumed panic attacks I had during the seminars I attended, as I was uncertain at the time if I was having a heart issue or a panic attack. In April of 2023 I received a Loop Recorder - an Implantable Medical Device - to monitor my heart. Additionally, I have been and was during the time of the course experiencing breathing issues during sleep, leading to me feeling very tired during the day. I have been referred to a sleep specialist by my physician, and in the meantime have been working with my occupational therapist on ways I can sleep better and feel more energetic during the day. I did not have these opportunities or referrals during the time of this POLS462 course.

I believe I am eligible to gain a late drop of the course POLS462 Studies in National Security that took place during the Fall Term 2022. Not attending seminars due to panic attacks, mental health issues, a lack of support for cognition, and physical issues, is what led me to not succeed as intended in the course. I have support from my (former) occupational therapist and the professor of the course in gaining a late drop. I explained how I sought out and have since been able to receive help in order for me to succeed academically and non-academically. Please consider this submission of my academic petition.

Sincerely,
Rowan Jackson-Cappuccino