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Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Academic)

I am writing this petition to late dropping of some courses I took from past years (going back to 2020). They are MUSC 127 (fall/winter 2020/21 and 2021/22), HIST 124 (Fall/winter 2021/22 and 2022/23), CLST 102 (fall 2022), and MUSC 221 (fall/winter 2021/22).

Over my years at Queens I have dealt with a lot of unforeseen circumstances and as a result my academic life took a hit. Every year I began with high hopes that each semester would be better then that last, and due to multiple issues (both personal and administrative) halfway through each semester I would fall behind and subsequently fail assignments and courses. My health was a big contributing factor to this. I was diagnosed with a hormonal disorder in first year and the symptoms are caused by and/or exacerbated dramatically by stress. This, plus the disabilities I have and some issues with Queens was too much to handle. As you have read my story a few times now through other petitions, I will be brief; issues I faced with Accommodations and with a couple discriminatory professors which made my mental health plummet, and therefore caused symptoms of my condition to become unbearable.

Between each of these courses I missed months worth of lectures, tests and assignments due to the inability to function (get out of bed, eat, sleep). This took an already focus-lacking brain and turned it, for lack of a better word, to mush. I had extreme brain fog, insomnia, nausea, and joint pain which made every day activities feel like the Labours of Hercules. Reading, something I usually did for fun, felt impossible as I would have to read, and reread multiple times to understand a simple sentence. Writing any sort of paper or assignment for classes took weeks longer because I could only write for 5 minutes before becoming too exhausted to type. Most shockingly, as I was operating on the same level of someone who was intoxicated, I stated to lose the ability to read music, hear intervals, write notes/rhythms etc. This was terrifying, and frustrated my professors. All of this was also causing me to be more stressed out because I knew the academic consequences, which made the symptoms worse. This cycle began halfway through my first semester of first year (October 20th 2020), and continued until May of this year (Although the 2023/24 academic school year was not as bad).

I struggled to reach out for help during this time as I had no trust in the school (mostly because I had a new accommodations person every time I turned around) , and was going through a revolving door of health care professionals through my Doctor’s office. I did see an Occupational Therapist regularly during the 2021-2022 school year, but that came to an end due to personal issues, and I was still no further ahead. I began repeating courses I needed, thinking it would get better (and to get them off my transcript) but continued to not do well, causing for failing some courses more then once.

Now, I am in a different program that does not have as many hurdles. Also, I have been working closely with a new Doctor on solutions to my condition, and have found something that works really well. That, combined with other mental health assistance I have, should be what I need to get back on track academically for my future years at Queens.