Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: My name is Maria Habash and I am submitting this appeal to late drop the courses PHIL 111 and POLS 110. I have previously been granted late drops for other courses, the most recent being HIST 109. At the time of dropping that course, I was informed in an email that I should submit another formal appeal to drop the remainder of my courses. Throughout my year at Queens, I struggled very heavily with a mental illness. This mental illness is called borderline personality disorder. This is an illness that I was aware of having prior to my attendance at Queens. I registered with QSAS and attempted to preemptively set up support systems within the community in the event that I might need them. My efforts were met with dismissal and indifference, sometimes disrespect. This would come to be a common theme throughout my year at Queens. Towards the end of October 2022, I began experiencing deterioration in my mental well-being. I continued to reach out to services within the school including SWS, QSAS, Academic Consideration, Social Workers, Academic Advising, SASS, Residence Services including RLCs, Human Rights and Equity Services - amongst many others not mentioned in this list - in an effort to get back on track both mentally and academically. Again, my efforts and struggles were consistently met with dismissal and dehumanization. It was not until March of 2023 that I managed to access a counselor that was able to only marginally help with my symptoms due to the severity they had gotten to. This was following an attempt I made to hospitalize myself due to concerns for my safety and being turned away from the hospital. Even following the meetings I began having with my counselor, I found it incredibly difficult to access supports and services that are meant to be readily available for students. The progression in severity was thus inevitable and it followed into the summer. There are other factors that contributed to this progression as well. One of them was during the school year and involved conflicts with other students that resulted in my receiving a death threat. Another related to housing issues during the summer after moving out of Residence and into an apartment. There were many issues with the apartment that were unnoticeable during the tour, notably a bug problem that included cockroaches. Attempting to remedy any of these issues with my landlord, most especially the bug problem, was futile as my concerns were dismissed as an irrational fear of bugs due to me being a woman. This ended up contributing to my daily lack of functionality as severe paranoia began to surface. I eventually resorted to showering at the school gym and refused to cook or eat in my apartment. This was compounded by the confusion and stress that I experienced from the lack of communication from my HIST 109 professor in regards to the incomplete I was promised but never came to fruition. This added to my lack of functionality, impacted my mental well-being, and derailed my attention from other courses as I tried to resolve the matter. While I made countless attempts to complete and submit assignments, mental illness and other contextual factors continued to interrupt my workflow. As a result, many of these assignments ended up only part-way completed. I also failed to learn anything from my classes as all of my attention was focused on fixing the situation and submitting assignments as opposed to keeping up with course material. After my time at Queens, I contemplated my options and the experience that I spent thousands of dollars as well as a year of my life and tears on. I have realized that Queens University is not meant for a student like me. Aside from experiencing poor treatment from the school and professors in relation to my mental illness, I found that I was not welcome as a student of colour. To continue to attend Queens would mean that I would walk around campus hyper-aware of the intersection of my identities for more than 4 years. I would always be relegated to the fringes of the Queens community because of the dominant white culture. I would have to accept that there would be many instances where I would feel unsafe on campus because of my identity. The students of colour at Queens work tirelessly to be seen by the school and administration that does the bare minimum for these students at any given time. While I am not denying that there can be improvements, I do not have the capacity to fight along with them. I also believe that Queens improves at no more than a surface level, as I have watched the responses given from the university towards students of colour grappling with racial injustice on campus both in the last and present year. I know that I have potential. I know this because I have spent my entire life, despite all of the hardships I faced, working towards a better future and excelling at school. I know this because despite all that I endured at Queens University, despite all of the incomplete work, I received grades that are unexpected from someone struggling so heavily. At my worst when I was unable to engage with any of the content and had no knowledge of the course material I received passing grades, and at best when I still only managed to consume small parts of the material I received 80s. One of the biggest joys in my life is learning. I tried. I tried and I pushed and I cried out for help. Instead, I was sent around in circles until I was completely exhausted. I know that I have no place at Queens but that does not mean that I don’t want to pursue a University education. My access to post-secondary remains tainted by my year of hardship at Queens. I don’t want to experience more difficulty in my efforts to return to school. I can only remedy this if I can drop the remainder of my failed courses from the previous year. I hope you will take what I have said into consideration and understand. I also hope that no other student has to decide between continuing to pursue their education and going home because the circumstances they were put in became impossible to remedy. Thank you for your time, I will be awaiting your response.