Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 12042
Submitted: June 14, 2024 at 1:29:03 PM
First Name: Madison
Last Name: Wright
Pronoun: she/her
Preferred Name: Maddie
Student Number: 20221419
Email: 19mcw5@queensu.ca
Degree Program: Bsc
Plan: LISC
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Drop a course after the academic deadline, Waive the requirement to withdraw for one year
Code: PHYS118
Term: Summer
Year: 2023
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: BCHM218
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: GNDS215
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: ANAT309
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: PSYC370
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Petition Letter
Petition Letter:
To Dr. Jenn Stephenson. I am petitioning to drop Summer 2023 and Fall 2023 courses as by the time i understood i needed to drop them, I had missed the drop-deadline. I wanted to focus on Spring 2024 courses prior to re-hashing the trauma that caused Fall 2023 to go less-well, and am therefore now submitting it all at once in a petition, and request to waive the petition to withdrawal for one year. I am also requesting Credit stating in GLPH281 but am less in need of this compared to the requests to late drop and to waive the petition to withdrawal for a year. I respect your time, and to avoid over-writing as i normally do, will do my best to explain my request within the recommended word count.
As you may know from past discussions, my journey at Queen’s has not been smooth. I will not go too in-depth on prior to Summer 2023 term but do feel a background is helpful. Since graduating high school in 2020, I have been experiencing what I would argue as the most traumatic few years of my life. In summary, leading up to this most recent school year, I was put into family court with my spouse to advocate for my now stepchildren, of which we have gone thousands of dollars in debt to deal with as family lawyers are costly. It was and has been a high-conflict divorce. Though this is now resolved, it was extremely difficult. Following this, my grandmother (a local student landlord in Kingston) was diagnosed with stage four cancer throughout her body and moved into my family and I’s home in 2021. She required non-stop care, and due to my mother being in college to help better our family's lives, I became my grandmother’s primary caregiver. I took care of her upwards of eight hours a day. She passed towards the end of 2021. My grandmother and I were extremely close, and the death took a large toll. Immediately following that, my spouse’s father passed and we had to drive to Oshawa and deal with the estate/cleaning out the house he died in. In the spring of 2022, I was diagnosed with what doctor’s now think was a stomach parasite, where I vomited every hour for months, so much I was hospitalized almost daily to receive IV fluids and investigate. I informed Queen’s, specifically my professors, and did seek help during this difficult time.
Ongoing through 2022 onwards, my sister, who experiences diagnosed bipolar disorder related issues, began creating stress for our family – from flying across the world to meet random men, to stealing from me, breaking into my apartment I had moved into with my spouse, and threatening my family. We felt sympathy for her and were unable to view the situation accurately due to this, and this often-caused harm to me. I had many bills I took out in my name for her to go unpaid, she would steal expensive items from my home, and try to ruin my business on social media. This continued until her and her spouse separated in spring 2023. Due to my inability to see what she was doing to me, I felt sympathy when her spouse left her and her child with one day’s notice and moved into her house. This was supposed to be a win-win situation, in which I would be able to feel less financial strain, and in return help pay bills to her home to lessen the bills on herself.
I moved in in the spring of 2023 and was moved out by July of 2023 due to the abuse that occurred in her home. I was physically hurt, had all of my items including my laptop and all my textbooks that i needed, thrown onto the lawn in the rain. I often phoned for emergency assistance as my safety was not present. She completely trashed the home, stole my items, allowed young teenagers into the house to party (I notified parents) and was an overall abusive person to live with. I did not feel safe, as she would physically become aggressive. I did have her assist me with citations in a class last year, of which she reported it to Queen’s as plagiarism – as another way to attack my life. My sister, to this day, I will state wholeheartedly, did not write the essay. I respect Queen’s for dealing with the situation as they did, as they do not know the Ins and Outs of what occurred in that home. I was very unaware having citation help was against what was allowed, as everyone I know uses citation producing websites. I, however, will take accountability for this and re-wrote my work and did my best to finish the class regardless to get through the situation. My sister specifically lied to my own school, something she knows is all that is motivating me to continue working on my future and the rest of my life, it hurts me. She made fun of what she did, acknowledged she lied multiple times, and did not care. I moved on, beginning to work on my education. I had to emergency move out from her house in July 2023, and moved to different apartments until end of July of 2023/Early August 2023 until I found the current condo I reside in. My sister traumatized me, to the point I began seeking therapy. I do not want the trauma from her to continue to hurt my educational goals, and that has all it has done since 2021. I have been unable to see that until this past year. I went no contact with her, for the most part, until she had a crisis in the Fall of 2023 where she was notified her landlord would be kicking her out. I was in an emotionally vulnerable state as my sister has a child whom I am incredibly close with, and therefore often do things for her to help my nephew. I helped her, and committed to driving my nephew to pre-school and her to work so she can obtain full time employment and my nephew can receive an education. This commitment was meant to be short term, and she began overusing this and expected me to do it ongoing. My sister became abusive again, and I have ended my relationship with her since. My sister and I do not speak now, except for emergencies only. nephew, thankfully, is currently living with his father in Quebec, as he is stable and has a safe home.
My sister, from what I do know, is seeking mental health treatment for the first time. I understand my writing to you may come across as messy, but it is not intended to be. I have spent my entire life picking up the pieces from my older sister, who has done nothing but hurt me intentionally. I have allowed her to abuse me, use me, report me wrongfully to the police to arrest me, try to ruin my education, steal my phone, money, financial health, and mental health.
The trauma from living with my sister completely ruined my Summer of 2023 and Fall of 2023 semester. This is not what I wanted and was not what I expected to happen. This was not the type of student I wanted to be, and I did not want my sister to once again have so much power over me that my education was taken away.
If I am required to withdrawal, I will not be able to return. As someone who is actively helping my mental health and overcoming hurdles my sister’s abuse created, having symbolism her abuse has hurt me so much that i am forced to leave the only thing motivating me to get through what she did, will greatly hurt my mental health and restart my journey in healing. It is not what is best for me, and I am doing my best to explain why that is. I have committed myself through work to be enrolled in courses in September, and if I am not, will be unwell financially. Seeking employment is greatly difficult where I live and finding full-time work to cover what OSAP and educational local grants were helping with will be nearly impossible this quickly; on top of what will be an unwell mental health from what i view as my sister getting exactly what she has attempted to do for three years; get me kicked out of school.
I will attach the letter from my therapist, a letter from Jenna from January discussing my education, but do encourage that you can verify that I have been in heavy contact to utilize Queen’s support systems ongoing to ensure my success. I am doing well in school now, have been doing much better, and will continue to only improve. I am afraid of the repercussions and setbacks that withdrawaling will create due to my disability and complicated life circumstances. I am a first generation, low-income student with family who does not understand the importance of seeking education higher than high-school, so everything I do is self-motivated. I do fully recognize I will likely be unable to go back if forced to withdrawal for any period of time, due to family dynamic and financial reasons; along with the impact it would have on my mental health that I have been working so hard at bettering.
I will attach some proof of my sister's abuse to verify its legitimacy.
Please contact me if you need more documentation, as I will provide all the documentation to show my level of seriousness and honesty in this letter. I can expand on the academic plan, how withdrawing would only hurt my educational goals and not provide a break, and how I am thriving in what I am doing now. This letter was creating a lot of anxiety for me, so I have been delayed in important life-related tasks, and therefore do apologize if it is not as professionally written as it should be. It is difficult to bring up the past abuse, as it has created both legal, educational, and emotional concerns wrongfully and I do my best to forget that the person creating these issues exists. I am hoping to get past this, have the courses dropped that will increase my GPA, be given a chance to come back to school and not leave for a year, and continue on my incredibly healthy path of success I have been on this past term and ongoing. I can provide any level of documentation needed in addition to what I have provided.
I respect you, respect Queen’s, and have recently even tried to join clubs to involve myself, such as the accounting club. It was my entire life-goal from a young child to attend the school, and I even attended the enrichment studies program in high-school. I hope to continue my educational journey and walk across the stage in 2025 or 2026 finishing my degree. It will be a first in my family, and something that motivates me to keep trying. I thank you for reading this and apologize if it is too-long or worded poorly. It is my entire life on the line, and due to that a bit stressful of a letter to write. Please reach out if i can provide anything to you further to show my dedication to ensuring my success, as I have so much evidence that I am finally okay, mentally well, and doing better, and to show my success and strides that i have made recently.
I thank you kindly,
Best
Madison.
To Dr. Jenn Stephenson. I am petitioning to drop Summer 2023 and Fall 2023 courses as by the time i understood i needed to drop them, I had missed the drop-deadline. I wanted to focus on Spring 2024 courses prior to re-hashing the trauma that caused Fall 2023 to go less-well, and am therefore now submitting it all at once in a petition, and request to waive the petition to withdrawal for one year. I am also requesting Credit stating in GLPH281 but am less in need of this compared to the requests to late drop and to waive the petition to withdrawal for a year. I respect your time, and to avoid over-writing as i normally do, will do my best to explain my request within the recommended word count.
As you may know from past discussions, my journey at Queen’s has not been smooth. I will not go too in-depth on prior to Summer 2023 term but do feel a background is helpful. Since graduating high school in 2020, I have been experiencing what I would argue as the most traumatic few years of my life. In summary, leading up to this most recent school year, I was put into family court with my spouse to advocate for my now stepchildren, of which we have gone thousands of dollars in debt to deal with as family lawyers are costly. It was and has been a high-conflict divorce. Though this is now resolved, it was extremely difficult. Following this, my grandmother (a local student landlord in Kingston) was diagnosed with stage four cancer throughout her body and moved into my family and I’s home in 2021. She required non-stop care, and due to my mother being in college to help better our family's lives, I became my grandmother’s primary caregiver. I took care of her upwards of eight hours a day. She passed towards the end of 2021. My grandmother and I were extremely close, and the death took a large toll. Immediately following that, my spouse’s father passed and we had to drive to Oshawa and deal with the estate/cleaning out the house he died in. In the spring of 2022, I was diagnosed with what doctor’s now think was a stomach parasite, where I vomited every hour for months, so much I was hospitalized almost daily to receive IV fluids and investigate. I informed Queen’s, specifically my professors, and did seek help during this difficult time.
Ongoing through 2022 onwards, my sister, who experiences diagnosed bipolar disorder related issues, began creating stress for our family – from flying across the world to meet random men, to stealing from me, breaking into my apartment I had moved into with my spouse, and threatening my family. We felt sympathy for her and were unable to view the situation accurately due to this, and this often-caused harm to me. I had many bills I took out in my name for her to go unpaid, she would steal expensive items from my home, and try to ruin my business on social media. This continued until her and her spouse separated in spring 2023. Due to my inability to see what she was doing to me, I felt sympathy when her spouse left her and her child with one day’s notice and moved into her house. This was supposed to be a win-win situation, in which I would be able to feel less financial strain, and in return help pay bills to her home to lessen the bills on herself.
I moved in in the spring of 2023 and was moved out by July of 2023 due to the abuse that occurred in her home. I was physically hurt, had all of my items including my laptop and all my textbooks that i needed, thrown onto the lawn in the rain. I often phoned for emergency assistance as my safety was not present. She completely trashed the home, stole my items, allowed young teenagers into the house to party (I notified parents) and was an overall abusive person to live with. I did not feel safe, as she would physically become aggressive. I did have her assist me with citations in a class last year, of which she reported it to Queen’s as plagiarism – as another way to attack my life. My sister, to this day, I will state wholeheartedly, did not write the essay. I respect Queen’s for dealing with the situation as they did, as they do not know the Ins and Outs of what occurred in that home. I was very unaware having citation help was against what was allowed, as everyone I know uses citation producing websites. I, however, will take accountability for this and re-wrote my work and did my best to finish the class regardless to get through the situation. My sister specifically lied to my own school, something she knows is all that is motivating me to continue working on my future and the rest of my life, it hurts me. She made fun of what she did, acknowledged she lied multiple times, and did not care. I moved on, beginning to work on my education. I had to emergency move out from her house in July 2023, and moved to different apartments until end of July of 2023/Early August 2023 until I found the current condo I reside in. My sister traumatized me, to the point I began seeking therapy. I do not want the trauma from her to continue to hurt my educational goals, and that has all it has done since 2021. I have been unable to see that until this past year. I went no contact with her, for the most part, until she had a crisis in the Fall of 2023 where she was notified her landlord would be kicking her out. I was in an emotionally vulnerable state as my sister has a child whom I am incredibly close with, and therefore often do things for her to help my nephew. I helped her, and committed to driving my nephew to pre-school and her to work so she can obtain full time employment and my nephew can receive an education. This commitment was meant to be short term, and she began overusing this and expected me to do it ongoing. My sister became abusive again, and I have ended my relationship with her since. My sister and I do not speak now, except for emergencies only. nephew, thankfully, is currently living with his father in Quebec, as he is stable and has a safe home.
My sister, from what I do know, is seeking mental health treatment for the first time. I understand my writing to you may come across as messy, but it is not intended to be. I have spent my entire life picking up the pieces from my older sister, who has done nothing but hurt me intentionally. I have allowed her to abuse me, use me, report me wrongfully to the police to arrest me, try to ruin my education, steal my phone, money, financial health, and mental health.
The trauma from living with my sister completely ruined my Summer of 2023 and Fall of 2023 semester. This is not what I wanted and was not what I expected to happen. This was not the type of student I wanted to be, and I did not want my sister to once again have so much power over me that my education was taken away.
If I am required to withdrawal, I will not be able to return. As someone who is actively helping my mental health and overcoming hurdles my sister’s abuse created, having symbolism her abuse has hurt me so much that i am forced to leave the only thing motivating me to get through what she did, will greatly hurt my mental health and restart my journey in healing. It is not what is best for me, and I am doing my best to explain why that is. I have committed myself through work to be enrolled in courses in September, and if I am not, will be unwell financially. Seeking employment is greatly difficult where I live and finding full-time work to cover what OSAP and educational local grants were helping with will be nearly impossible this quickly; on top of what will be an unwell mental health from what i view as my sister getting exactly what she has attempted to do for three years; get me kicked out of school.
I will attach the letter from my therapist, a letter from Jenna from January discussing my education, but do encourage that you can verify that I have been in heavy contact to utilize Queen’s support systems ongoing to ensure my success. I am doing well in school now, have been doing much better, and will continue to only improve. I am afraid of the repercussions and setbacks that withdrawaling will create due to my disability and complicated life circumstances. I am a first generation, low-income student with family who does not understand the importance of seeking education higher than high-school, so everything I do is self-motivated. I do fully recognize I will likely be unable to go back if forced to withdrawal for any period of time, due to family dynamic and financial reasons; along with the impact it would have on my mental health that I have been working so hard at bettering.
I will attach some proof of my sister's abuse to verify its legitimacy.
Please contact me if you need more documentation, as I will provide all the documentation to show my level of seriousness and honesty in this letter. I can expand on the academic plan, how withdrawing would only hurt my educational goals and not provide a break, and how I am thriving in what I am doing now. This letter was creating a lot of anxiety for me, so I have been delayed in important life-related tasks, and therefore do apologize if it is not as professionally written as it should be. It is difficult to bring up the past abuse, as it has created both legal, educational, and emotional concerns wrongfully and I do my best to forget that the person creating these issues exists. I am hoping to get past this, have the courses dropped that will increase my GPA, be given a chance to come back to school and not leave for a year, and continue on my incredibly healthy path of success I have been on this past term and ongoing. I can provide any level of documentation needed in addition to what I have provided.
I respect you, respect Queen’s, and have recently even tried to join clubs to involve myself, such as the accounting club. It was my entire life-goal from a young child to attend the school, and I even attended the enrichment studies program in high-school. I hope to continue my educational journey and walk across the stage in 2025 or 2026 finishing my degree. It will be a first in my family, and something that motivates me to keep trying. I thank you for reading this and apologize if it is too-long or worded poorly. It is my entire life on the line, and due to that a bit stressful of a letter to write. Please reach out if i can provide anything to you further to show my dedication to ensuring my success, as I have so much evidence that I am finally okay, mentally well, and doing better, and to show my success and strides that i have made recently.
I thank you kindly,
Best
Madison.
Academic Plan
Academic Plan: I have been dedicating myself to my educational goals. Spring of 2024 term went much better, with passing grades in the courses I kept, and an IN in a course that I will pass with a higher-level grade, of which will be finished shortly. That Term GPA is much higher than passing and will go up when my IN is finished, and the course is completed shortly.
Due to my ongoing healing from my sister, and my ability to ensure I do not allow her in my life, I have been much more able to tackle my educational goals whilst dealing with outside stress. In Spring of 2024 term, my car was stolen, I lost my job, and was once again wrongfully (she tried to, it was not successful as I did not do anything wrong) investigated by the police. Despite this, i passed the term fully and my GPA from this term will only go up.
I have worked ongoing with a psychotherapist, to perform regular therapy sessions to work on the trauma I face from years of severe emotional abuse incurred by my eldest sister. In this most recent month, I began seeking therapy weekly as well, to only further help with my emotional trauma from my sibling. Therapy is ongoing and will continue ongoing until I complete my degree in full. I no-longer feel forced to help my sibling, nor have any attachments to her life. 2023 was horrific, in details that I may be missing in this entry to you, as I do attempt to block that out as it is unhealthy to relive.
I have been in contact with academic services, specifically Jenna Kring, what feels like every week, since last year. We have established that I will be going into accounting, that it is best for me to finish my current degree and not change my major, and that I can seek her/their support when i need it. They have created a safe place for me at Queen’s, creating an environment that makes me feel ready to do my work and complete my educational goals. Jenna has helped me with academic, future, and even planning regarding this letter to you. Jenna has mentioned you can contact her if you would like to, to confirm that I have sought out proper accommodations through QSAS to help ensure my success, that I frequently am in contact with her regarding my mental health check-ins, to go over all questions asked, and to ensure my success. I am not the type of student who wants to fail. I am an extremely passionate student, who is planning on finishing her degree, going for my accounting designation and taking courses that align with that once I graduate Queen’s. I intend to take Coursera's certificates in accounting and have successfully run all accounting for my business – Yard Flair. My business granted me a City of Brockville award in 2023, and I was featured in Queen’s newspaper as well as a student with large life goals. I am not the type of student to fail out of school and do nothing with my life. I am not a student who slacks off on schoolwork on purpose, and I never have. I have faced mental health concerns from severe emotional trauma that has taken an enormous amount of self-reflection. I have sought out weekly therapy this past month, with ongoing therapy since last fall, making large strides in overcoming the trauma, to the point of being able to be more successful in my term this spring.
I do feel strongly confident in my ability to succeed in future terms and finish my education here at Queen’s without further issues. I have been seeking therapy with a therapist who is extremely helpful. She has provided a letter stating my regular sessions, and I can attach proof that I have had further sessions since that letter. I have sought out QSAS accommodations that do help as a back-up for if I ever need a few days to recover from any mental health concern. I have successfully found flexible work that allows me to dedicate 9-5, every single day, to do schoolwork. I have been able to pay off all debt I previously owed from living with my sister, and can now afford to eat healthy meals, pay for HelloFresh meal kits to help alleviate cooking as much, and have sought out a gym membership at my local YMCA. I have begun volunteering with my local Food Bank through my business and am establishing community support and healthy friendships. I have been in strong communication with Queen’s to help with my future and have developed a strong plan if I am able to get my petition to drop the failed courses, of which will drastically increase my GPA, along with waive the requirement to withdrawal for a year.
I am dedicated to bettering myself, and will continue therapy, continue working with academic services for help, and continue to utilize support such as QSAS for any mental health related accommodations I may need. I have completely completed Spring term successfully, above what is considered a full-time course load minimum for students with a disability and feel committed to only continue to get better grades with each year that goes by. I only intend on taking 4 courses in the fall to help ease into full-time school and will only be taking “easier” courses rather than the courses i know i will struggle with, to help improve my GPA further and create consistency so I can handle the more difficult courses. I have established an academic plan.
My academic plan consists of ensuring i regularly update my QSAS advisor with any new updates I have regarding my condition. I will continue weekly private psychotherapy to continue to make strides in overcoming trauma. I have set myself up financially to be able to do school 9-5 every day in the fall onwards and work outside of school hours. I have gotten a YMCA membership inquiry to seek out swim therapy and a gym to as working out greatly helps my mental health. I have established a clear academic plan to graduate by 2026, and also sought out help with Jenna from academic services who regularly assists with my future, goals, and how to achieve the goals I have. I have looked into how i can go into the post-degree field I am interested in and have a clear path from today, to the end of my educational goals. This is something that strongly motivates me and not something I was able to do prior to experiencing what is the most unhealthy relationship of my life. Dropping the failed courses will allow my GPA to rise significantly, which may even bring it above the threshold I would have needed to waive the withdrawal from Queen’s. Regardless, I would strongly like to request to waive the withdrawal for a year, as that will set my mental health progress back significantly, will break the educational aspect of my court order that ensures I have funding from my father to help with my education, meaning I will quite literally be unable to afford to come back. On top of this, I have coordinated the entiredy of my finances and future scheduling for my city-run business on the basis of continuing education. I am motivated more now than ever, am showing success in my work rather than just saying I will be, and have overcome the trauma that has created instability and mental health issues for the past few years. My therapist and I work weekly on healthy mechanisms to support my education, and I do many daily coping mechanisms and cognitive Behavorial therapy that have fostered my ability to experience stress while still being successful in school.
Due to my ongoing healing from my sister, and my ability to ensure I do not allow her in my life, I have been much more able to tackle my educational goals whilst dealing with outside stress. In Spring of 2024 term, my car was stolen, I lost my job, and was once again wrongfully (she tried to, it was not successful as I did not do anything wrong) investigated by the police. Despite this, i passed the term fully and my GPA from this term will only go up.
I have worked ongoing with a psychotherapist, to perform regular therapy sessions to work on the trauma I face from years of severe emotional abuse incurred by my eldest sister. In this most recent month, I began seeking therapy weekly as well, to only further help with my emotional trauma from my sibling. Therapy is ongoing and will continue ongoing until I complete my degree in full. I no-longer feel forced to help my sibling, nor have any attachments to her life. 2023 was horrific, in details that I may be missing in this entry to you, as I do attempt to block that out as it is unhealthy to relive.
I have been in contact with academic services, specifically Jenna Kring, what feels like every week, since last year. We have established that I will be going into accounting, that it is best for me to finish my current degree and not change my major, and that I can seek her/their support when i need it. They have created a safe place for me at Queen’s, creating an environment that makes me feel ready to do my work and complete my educational goals. Jenna has helped me with academic, future, and even planning regarding this letter to you. Jenna has mentioned you can contact her if you would like to, to confirm that I have sought out proper accommodations through QSAS to help ensure my success, that I frequently am in contact with her regarding my mental health check-ins, to go over all questions asked, and to ensure my success. I am not the type of student who wants to fail. I am an extremely passionate student, who is planning on finishing her degree, going for my accounting designation and taking courses that align with that once I graduate Queen’s. I intend to take Coursera's certificates in accounting and have successfully run all accounting for my business – Yard Flair. My business granted me a City of Brockville award in 2023, and I was featured in Queen’s newspaper as well as a student with large life goals. I am not the type of student to fail out of school and do nothing with my life. I am not a student who slacks off on schoolwork on purpose, and I never have. I have faced mental health concerns from severe emotional trauma that has taken an enormous amount of self-reflection. I have sought out weekly therapy this past month, with ongoing therapy since last fall, making large strides in overcoming the trauma, to the point of being able to be more successful in my term this spring.
I do feel strongly confident in my ability to succeed in future terms and finish my education here at Queen’s without further issues. I have been seeking therapy with a therapist who is extremely helpful. She has provided a letter stating my regular sessions, and I can attach proof that I have had further sessions since that letter. I have sought out QSAS accommodations that do help as a back-up for if I ever need a few days to recover from any mental health concern. I have successfully found flexible work that allows me to dedicate 9-5, every single day, to do schoolwork. I have been able to pay off all debt I previously owed from living with my sister, and can now afford to eat healthy meals, pay for HelloFresh meal kits to help alleviate cooking as much, and have sought out a gym membership at my local YMCA. I have begun volunteering with my local Food Bank through my business and am establishing community support and healthy friendships. I have been in strong communication with Queen’s to help with my future and have developed a strong plan if I am able to get my petition to drop the failed courses, of which will drastically increase my GPA, along with waive the requirement to withdrawal for a year.
I am dedicated to bettering myself, and will continue therapy, continue working with academic services for help, and continue to utilize support such as QSAS for any mental health related accommodations I may need. I have completely completed Spring term successfully, above what is considered a full-time course load minimum for students with a disability and feel committed to only continue to get better grades with each year that goes by. I only intend on taking 4 courses in the fall to help ease into full-time school and will only be taking “easier” courses rather than the courses i know i will struggle with, to help improve my GPA further and create consistency so I can handle the more difficult courses. I have established an academic plan.
My academic plan consists of ensuring i regularly update my QSAS advisor with any new updates I have regarding my condition. I will continue weekly private psychotherapy to continue to make strides in overcoming trauma. I have set myself up financially to be able to do school 9-5 every day in the fall onwards and work outside of school hours. I have gotten a YMCA membership inquiry to seek out swim therapy and a gym to as working out greatly helps my mental health. I have established a clear academic plan to graduate by 2026, and also sought out help with Jenna from academic services who regularly assists with my future, goals, and how to achieve the goals I have. I have looked into how i can go into the post-degree field I am interested in and have a clear path from today, to the end of my educational goals. This is something that strongly motivates me and not something I was able to do prior to experiencing what is the most unhealthy relationship of my life. Dropping the failed courses will allow my GPA to rise significantly, which may even bring it above the threshold I would have needed to waive the withdrawal from Queen’s. Regardless, I would strongly like to request to waive the withdrawal for a year, as that will set my mental health progress back significantly, will break the educational aspect of my court order that ensures I have funding from my father to help with my education, meaning I will quite literally be unable to afford to come back. On top of this, I have coordinated the entiredy of my finances and future scheduling for my city-run business on the basis of continuing education. I am motivated more now than ever, am showing success in my work rather than just saying I will be, and have overcome the trauma that has created instability and mental health issues for the past few years. My therapist and I work weekly on healthy mechanisms to support my education, and I do many daily coping mechanisms and cognitive Behavorial therapy that have fostered my ability to experience stress while still being successful in school.
Documentation
Professional Letter: Confidential Letter MW 2024.jpg
Document: Document79.pdf
Documentation Detail: additional proof to back up what i say.