Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

My name is Jordan Connors and I am petitioning to drop HIST 220 (2023 Winter), HIST 231(2023 Winter), and HIST 320B(2023 Winter).

For the past three years, I have battled with an eating disorder that progressively got worse while I was studying at Queen’s University. I was not diagnosed at the time, but after getting help I was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa binge/purge subtype, and this is the kind of eating disorder I had at the time of these classes. When I had this, I would go days with eating the equivalent of only 500 calories, and over exercise by going to the gym to run on the treadmills until those calories were burned off. When my body got to it’s breaking point, I would overeat on unhealthy foods from takeout restaurants and convenient stores, sometimes to the point where I would throw up because I could not eat any more. This gave me a sense of intense shame and insecurity that I thought could only be solved by going back into a starvation state to make up for what I ate. This consumed everything I did on a day to day basis. Many days I did not have the energy to go to class because I did not have the nutrition, and my mind was focused on losing the weight from my previous binge session. Often these binges would go on for consecutive days, making the purging only more extreme. I sent a submission for counseling from Queen’s, but never got a letter back for a consultation or anything, so I decided I had to face it on my own. Ultimately, the severity of my eating disorder caused me to completely shut down, and all of my energy went towards the binge/purge cycle, and the shame that came with it. I failed all my classes, which really woke me up to how bad it was. I took a year off of school to focus on my mental health and with the help of a psychologist who specializes with eating disorders, I am now in early-full remission.

I believe I have a strong foundation for my return back to school that will see a great improvement in my grades. My psychologist, Kelty Berardi, was the final push I needed to be able to enter remission. I have made sure that when I am back at school, I will be able to have virtual meetings to discuss things if something were to go wrong again, or just in case I need her advice. I would also not have been able to enter remission as fast as I did if it was not for my drive and desire to get back into my education at Queen’s at a learning pace and lifestyle that is right for me. I was not myself because I was not feeding myself right. When I come back to school I plan on starting with a lighter course load, just to ease myself back into student life. I will make myself more aware of programs to help my grades if they slip, like on campus workshops or the Peer Mentor Program. Most importantly, I am eager to go and show up to all my classes and actually learn. My eating disorder took away my love for learning, and now that I have it back, I cannot wait to go and make the most of my opportunities. I firmly believe I can do all of this as long as I continue to make positive progress into full remission, and maintain healthy eating patterns.