Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 11156
Submitted: November 21, 2023 at 4:03:54 PM
First Name: Louisa
Last Name: Fisher
Pronoun: She/Her
Preferred Name: Louisa
Student Number: 20402068
Email: 22syw3@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: GNDS
Level of Study: 1
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: FILM 111
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: GNDS 120
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: MUSC 171
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Hello,
My name is Louisa Fisher and I am petitioning to drop all fall term courses and withdraw from Queen's University as a whole. During the October 2023 reading week, my younger brother was admitted to the psychiatric hospital due to suicidal thoughts, attempts of suicide, and multiple instances of severe self-harm. Before being admitted, someone had to be watching him at all times, or else he would try to take his own life. This job fell onto me as I was home during the time. Seeing him in such a helpless state really took a toll on my wellbeing. I began to blame myself for his situation and experienced intense guilt from not being home earlier to help him. These feelings consumed my every thought and once I was back at Queen’s, I was texting or calling my brother every minute to make sure he was still alive and that he was not experiencing any harmful thoughts. While this was going on (and still happening today) I was also dealing with my own struggles. I experienced the loss of several close friendships, verbal and cyber bullying, being the only support system for my friends, and relapsing with unhealthy eating habits. I never had any time to process what was going on in my own life, letting all of the emotions consume me and being sent into an undiagnosed depression. Things such as hygiene, eating, texting, calling, even going on social media have become a chore and most days, I go without eating a proper meal or a meal at all. I fell so behind in class readings but still tried my best to submit assignments and write tests. I force myself to go to lectures, labs and tutorials but have a hard time paying attention or engaging. I really thought that I would be able to stick this semester out and attempt to just pass my classes. However, last week I was informed that my brother was self harming again (Week of November 13-17) which only caused more emotions and a decline in my mental and physical health. I never had time to reach out to Queen’s support systems because I was so consumed by the storm of events in my life and also trying to stay on top of work.
I did not drop my classes earlier as I did not think I would have too. Nothing could have prepared me for the way my brain was going to react to the news about my brother. I had no idea that having to help my friends with their lives and losing close friendships would influence the way I live my life and what I can do. Given everything that has happened to me, I know that I will not be able to finish my courses or a full year here. No amount of extensions or extra help is going to change the fact that I need time to focus on myself and my family. It will not change the fact that I have to be able process recent events and need my family in order to do that. It will not change the fact that I am currently unable to take care of myself. I am worried what will happen to me if I am away from my home and my community any longer. I am so behind on work that even if I do stay here and carry out the semester, I will by no means succeed.
I have discussed my future academic plans with my parents and they agree on what I have decided. I will withdraw from my studies at Queen’s University and move back home. I will search for support systems to better my mental and physical (i.e., therapy). I will spend the rest of the year (December 2023-July 2024) working a job and focusing on rebuilding my identity. Getting back into community volunteering should help with this process. I will re-apply to universities that are closer to home so that I would not have to live on campus and can be with my family if situations like this were to happen again. I would be applying to start school again in September 2024.
I understand that it is well past the deadline to drop courses and that exams are just a few weeks away. I am also aware that I do not have documentation to provide you about my mental health and I’m not sure what documents I would need to show to prove my brother's situation. I am asking for permission to withdraw from Queen’s University so that I can feel like myself again and be with my family during a very hard time in our lives. My time here has been nothing but struggle and I would like that to come to an end. Thank you for your time
Sincerely,
Louisa Fisher
She/Her
20402068
My name is Louisa Fisher and I am petitioning to drop all fall term courses and withdraw from Queen's University as a whole. During the October 2023 reading week, my younger brother was admitted to the psychiatric hospital due to suicidal thoughts, attempts of suicide, and multiple instances of severe self-harm. Before being admitted, someone had to be watching him at all times, or else he would try to take his own life. This job fell onto me as I was home during the time. Seeing him in such a helpless state really took a toll on my wellbeing. I began to blame myself for his situation and experienced intense guilt from not being home earlier to help him. These feelings consumed my every thought and once I was back at Queen’s, I was texting or calling my brother every minute to make sure he was still alive and that he was not experiencing any harmful thoughts. While this was going on (and still happening today) I was also dealing with my own struggles. I experienced the loss of several close friendships, verbal and cyber bullying, being the only support system for my friends, and relapsing with unhealthy eating habits. I never had any time to process what was going on in my own life, letting all of the emotions consume me and being sent into an undiagnosed depression. Things such as hygiene, eating, texting, calling, even going on social media have become a chore and most days, I go without eating a proper meal or a meal at all. I fell so behind in class readings but still tried my best to submit assignments and write tests. I force myself to go to lectures, labs and tutorials but have a hard time paying attention or engaging. I really thought that I would be able to stick this semester out and attempt to just pass my classes. However, last week I was informed that my brother was self harming again (Week of November 13-17) which only caused more emotions and a decline in my mental and physical health. I never had time to reach out to Queen’s support systems because I was so consumed by the storm of events in my life and also trying to stay on top of work.
I did not drop my classes earlier as I did not think I would have too. Nothing could have prepared me for the way my brain was going to react to the news about my brother. I had no idea that having to help my friends with their lives and losing close friendships would influence the way I live my life and what I can do. Given everything that has happened to me, I know that I will not be able to finish my courses or a full year here. No amount of extensions or extra help is going to change the fact that I need time to focus on myself and my family. It will not change the fact that I have to be able process recent events and need my family in order to do that. It will not change the fact that I am currently unable to take care of myself. I am worried what will happen to me if I am away from my home and my community any longer. I am so behind on work that even if I do stay here and carry out the semester, I will by no means succeed.
I have discussed my future academic plans with my parents and they agree on what I have decided. I will withdraw from my studies at Queen’s University and move back home. I will search for support systems to better my mental and physical (i.e., therapy). I will spend the rest of the year (December 2023-July 2024) working a job and focusing on rebuilding my identity. Getting back into community volunteering should help with this process. I will re-apply to universities that are closer to home so that I would not have to live on campus and can be with my family if situations like this were to happen again. I would be applying to start school again in September 2024.
I understand that it is well past the deadline to drop courses and that exams are just a few weeks away. I am also aware that I do not have documentation to provide you about my mental health and I’m not sure what documents I would need to show to prove my brother's situation. I am asking for permission to withdraw from Queen’s University so that I can feel like myself again and be with my family during a very hard time in our lives. My time here has been nothing but struggle and I would like that to come to an end. Thank you for your time
Sincerely,
Louisa Fisher
She/Her
20402068
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: NO DOC