Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

My name is Lindsey Walker and I am writing to appeal to drop my winter 2015 semester courses. The courses are PSYC 100, PSYC 221, PSYC 231, and P16. I did not perform as well as I would have been able to, had I not been suffering from major depressive disorder. My disorder stemmed from the loss of both of my grandmothers, and the end of my three and a half year relationship.
My grandmothers passed away within seven weeks of each other in November 2013 and January 2014. I was very close with them as one grandmother lived across the street from me and the other lived a two minute drive away. Both of my parents had just lost their mothers and my grandfathers has just lost their wives of fifty plus years so I felt as though I had nobody to talk to about it as everybody was working through their own grief. My ex-boyfriend, Mike and I had been dating for the past three and a half years and he was there to support me through the grieving period. I relied on him heavily for the months to follow and we grew much closer over the summer to the point where he lived with my parents, brother, and I. We wound up breaking up in late October 2014, one year after the first loss of one of my grandmothers, and it shook my whole world. The loss of my relationship with my best friend and boyfriend along with the reminder of the loss of my grandmothers triggered the development of my major depressive disorder.
I have been dealing with feelings of fatigue, loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness, impaired concentration, insomnia, being slowed down, weight loss, anhedonia, and feeling guilty about having all of these symptoms. From November I was unable to go to class, unable to get out of bed to perform daily tasks such as getting groceries, maintaining personal hygiene, nurturing relationships with friends, and attend offseason training sessions for the Queen¿¿s women¿¿s lacrosse team. I had not been aware that it was depression I was suffering from and I thought that I was just having a few bad days that turned into bad weeks. I was not able to bring myself to get out of bed to brush my teeth or make breakfast, let alone get dressed and go focus on my lectures for hours a day. This caused me to fall behind in lecture notes, updates on assignments, and participation in class quizzes.
When I reviewed the symptoms of depression and realized that I have seven out eight of the main indicators, I went home to be with family and made an appointment with my doctor. I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder in early March and have been prescribed Cipralex by Dr. John Graham, who I meet with on a semi monthly basis. I have been meeting with a counsellor at Queen¿¿s Square Family Medical Centre in Brampton since early April and will continue with my appointments as needed. I am determined that with the assistance of my doctor, psychologist and my own determination, I will be able to be my happy, functioning self once again.
I will be taking the year off from school in September 2015 in order to focus on overcoming my depression and to be near family. This will allow me to come back to school, the following school year, healthy and ready to be physically and mentally present at Queen¿¿s and be actively involved in my studies. When I do return, I will continue to meet with a counsellor at Queen¿¿s in order to maintain a healthy outlook and to be able to focus on my academic goals.