Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Please accept this petition for consideration. After a challenging first year that I was subjected to harassment, investigated by Queens and determined to be founded, as well as my mental health issues, all year I struggled to maintain focus on school and as a result fell behind in my studies. Summer 2022 I tried to make up courses by taking a summer course, it started May 9, 2022. Unfortunately, I did not recognize at the time that I was mentally in no condition to engage in course work. With the two traumatic incidents that happened that summer: July 5, two masked men broke into my house as I slept in the morning. I was the only one home at the time and one of the masked men entered my room waking me from my sleep. Two weeks later, I was entering my vehicle after work and an unhoused person was lying in the back seat of my car awaiting my return. I ran out of my car and members of the public came to my support. Both events substantially impacted my wellness. My summer studies faltered as a result. I am requesting compassion in the dropping of PHIL151 from my transcript. Semester 1 and 2, Year 2 Fall 2023 Entering second year the cumulative impact on my health had taken a toll. I found myself incapable of asking for assistance, I tried to fake everything was fine however I was drained and by the second week of the semester, I was having trouble sleeping, getting out of bed and attending class. Unfortunately, I was terrified of anyone knowing how mentally ill I was, I feared disappointment, failure, and the truth. I was scared to face the challenges in front of me and confronting them by getting help. In October 2023, I reached out to Queen’s Student Mental Health services and had an appointment with a counsellor. I had done a few sessions however when the counsellor asked whether I was suicidal, I stopped making appointments, as I was under the impression, that If I was suicidal, that there would have to be other people involved. The truth was, I was suicidal, and that fact is heartbreaking to recall as I write this to you now. The result to my fear of the truth, I continued to hide what was going on, bury it, and not acknowledge it, to pretend that it would all go away. Despite attending the Queen’s counsellor service my problems were beyond what she was able to offer. Although unknown to me at the time I was clinically depressed (Major Depressive Disorder) and experienced General and Social Anxiety Disorders. When I went home for Christmas break, the third traumatic event in six months occurred. The vehicle I was driving was T-boned by a bus. I was fortunate to avoid serious physical injury as the vehicle was completely written off. The aftermath of the car crash and the home invasion and unhoused person in my car from the summer prior to the semester resulted in symptoms of PTSD. As well as the trauma I experienced in being so sick, physically unable to eat, no energy and losing weight and mentally so strained I could not focus. As a result, my school continued to suffer. I am asking for understanding and support to drop the three Fs I earned (POLS 211, POLS 230, and POLS 250). I spoke to my parents at length about the many challenges and asked for help. They arrange for me to work with a psychotherapist who specializes with young women dealing with trauma, depression, and anxiety. However, my mental health issues continued through the second semester. I continued to deal with my mental illnesses. I continued to not be able to sleep and have no will get out of bed. On January 11, 2023, I got a referral to my therapist, and on January 31, 2023, I had my first appointment. From that point on, continuing to today I have weekly sessions with my therapist. Unfortunately, it is difficult to receive help when you are unable to help yourself first, and sadly that was the place I was in. I wish that mental health issues could have been solved in one session with a therapist. It was a continuous battle between within me. I was still suicidal, lying to myself that the hole I had dug myself in my schooling, and in my life, wasn’t there. I became embarrassed of what I had caused. I was scared. My parents became aware of my failed first semester, and I committed to do better. I put systems in place to try and address my academic issues. Unfortunately, the systems and my efforts could not overcome my many issues. Still searching for solutions I continued my therapy. When I disclosed to my therapist that I have a family history of a learning disability, she recommended I engaged in arranging testing to get assessed. I reached out in February 2023 and got the first available appointment that was at the end of the semester. Near the end of the semester, I had broken down to my roommate of what was going on, that I was suicidal. My two roommates reached out to my mom to inform her that I needed help, that I was not eating or sleeping. The result of this was my parents came to take me home; to try to get healthy again, my doctor diagnosed me with depression and anxiety. However, although a diagnosis was a step in the right direction, unfortunately my grades suffered due to the ongoing health struggles during the semester. I am asking for understanding and support for my POLS 212 course to be moved to credit standing.
Year 3 Semester 1 Going into this semester I was under the impression due to my academic standing; I was required to withdraw for a year. As I had received an email on May 23, 2023, stating so. At the end of July I got my results, I had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, Combined type (ADHD-C). At the time, learning about my diagnosis was both freeing, and frustrating. I recall the moment I found out, I had broken down into tears, I was now able to understand why I work the way I do, why I have trouble in certain areas.
However, I was also angry that I had such trouble with things that came easy to my peers. A reading that would take my roommate an hour, would take me four. I then made an appointment with my doctor, and around mid-September I began taking medication for my condition. On September 12, 2023, I received an email stating my academic standing had changed as my past appeal for some of my second-year courses and my first-year courses had been accepted. Although I was grateful, I was not ready to go back to school. I enrolled in two online courses as my fear was, I had a long road ahead of me to gain back the time I had lost. I was still understanding my diagnosis, and how to deal with my mental illnesses. I was scared, just as I did in the summer, I was scared to open my computer up. I was scared to fail, and to further disappoint the people around me. I continued to hurt myself and my schooling in the process by being afraid of confronting what was Infront of me. I am asking for understanding and support to drop the F I earned in Anatomy. I am recovering and in my recovery my academics have become the foundation to who I am and how to move forward. In December 2023, I started ADHD coaching, to understand how to use my diagnosis, as a superpower, instead of being embarrassed, angry and frustrated about it, as I had been previously. Just being at Queen’s is, in essence, me facing my fears. But I want hope for the future and feel my transcript holds me back, reminds me of an impossible painful time, and in essence is retraumatizing. It was difficult to write to you about all my trauma I wish could stay hidden and my health issues. It is also difficult because there will never be enough words to describe the pain, I had dealt with for over two years. I wish this did not happen; I wish I could have gotten help earlier and been strong enough to face the truth. I wish so badly that I was not in this position writing to you now, but most importantly I wish I had never put anyone in my life through what I had gone through for such a long period of time, as it is just as equally as painful for them. I wish to move on from that part of my life, however I am unable to with the past mistakes still very much visible in my academic life, holding me back from the future I have been working so hard to achieve. I have made an immense number of changes in every part of my life, both personally and academically, where the results can be seen in my grades. I hope you can consider my petition, and allow me to move past my mistakes, to be able to achieve the future I am working for. 2/3 police reports are pending I have requested them; however, I did not want to delay my petition. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sydnee Maclellan