Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,



I am writing this letter to petition to drop seven courses. Three were over the summer 2023 semester, two the following fall semester and two during the winter semester.

For the last two classes from the winter/spring semester, I asked for extensions through the academic consideration process. This consideration turned out to not be enough for me to complete the classes, as I had missed too many in person classes to complete the assignments properly. I also only had one month to complete everything, which was not enough time. In addition, one of my professors does not take digital submissions so I would have to be driven three hours back to Kingston to hand in these assignments.

Although I had tried once in the past to use the petition process, I did not consider it as an option. I was not reminded of this process until I spoke with academic advising and disclosed to them the fact that my academic consideration would not work out for me. Due to the stress of my current situation, I was very confused and was unsure of what to do and needed guidance from advisors. I do not often speak to advisers or medical staff at the university, as I have had bad experiences with them in the past.

My current issues with not being able to complete classes is due to mental and physical health issues that have spanned many years.

I struggle with attention deficit issues, executive function issues, sensory issues and much more. This made completing course work, attending class, and taking care of myself very complicated. Upon speaking to some counsellors, I took it upon myself to seek some help. This would have been through an ASD/ADHD assessment. When I attempted to get help, I faced many barriers. Many clinics did not work with adults, had long wait times or were too expensive. I also faced many professionals that did not seem to listen to me when I explained what I was struggling with. I felt extremely discouraged and lost a lot of trust in mental health care services. Around this time, I also hit a new roadblock. I had begun to experience two different major physical health issues. I began having issues with my bladder and suffered from symptoms of an overactive bladder. I was also having trouble with my cardiovascular health. I have been experiencing symptoms of nausea, dizziness, fainting, and rapid heartbeats. The combination of these two conditions made it very hard to leave my apartment and I struggled to adjust to the changes that were occurring in my body. I still do not know the root cause of my health issues and am waiting to get in touch with a specialist through my family doctor, as all previous testing has not shown any conclusive results. My parents are also the type of people who do not believe in mental health problems, and my mother does not believe in traditional science and medicine. This meant I had no support from parents through my mental and physical health issues. This added to the stress of the entire situation and made it difficult to book and get to doctors appointments.



This impacted my ability to perform academically, as my classes were not very accessible to me. I could not focus and get work done, and found it very difficult to sit through lectures and retain information. With my physical health issues, it has been very difficult for me to leave my apartment and get to class. With my bladder problems, I take frequent bathroom trips and am often uncomfortable. Walking to campus and sitting through a lecture is difficult as a result. With my dizziness and nausea, it is very hard for me to walk or stay upright on certain days. I often find that when I try to walk to campus I feel faint and physically strained. This makes it scary for me to leave my apartment as I am afraid of fainting. I also have had periods of time where I am not getting a lot of sleep due to my health problems and this adds to the physical strain attending classes puts on my body. Even if I can make it to class, it is hard to focus with heart rate issues, nausea dizziness, overactive bladder, and my potential ASD/ADHD symptoms. Due to the fact that I can not attend in person classes properly, I do not fully understand what is happening in my classes and can not complete my assignments properly. The three summer courses that I was not able to complete were due to my health issues being piratically bad that summer and the classes having group assignments. As the courses were online, I did not have to worry about getting to class, but I was often too sick to participate in the group discussions for the assignments and get my work done on time. My mental health was also very bad that summer as I had become very upset with myself for being physically ill and was grieving my formally healthy body. I was having difficulty coping with all of this and it impacted my performance very negatively. Having accommodations would have helped but unfortunately, due to my lack of diagnosis, I was unable to access things like a note taker. I often relied on my professors allowing me to hand things in late or would have to go to Student Wellness Services and file for an extension through them. On top of not having access to in-school accommodations, I also did not have access to resources, medications and therapies that would have been helpful for me. I felt very discouraged and let down. Since I did not have an official diagnosis, I felt a pressure to keep up appearances and just push my way thought school as I didn’t have any ‘evidence’ of my struggles. I was extremely burnt out and exhausted from trying to complete these classes and every time I would fail, I felt horrible. I had been putting in all the effort I had, and it still was not enough.



Having my petition granted for at least two of my classes will allow me to take courses this summer and graduate in the fall. I do not have the money to come back to school in person in the fall so this summer is my only chance to complete my degree here at Queens.

Thank you for your time reading this letter,



Samantha Shivprasad