Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 12782
Submitted: February 13, 2025 at 2:21:48 PM
First Name: anahita
Last Name: partow
Pronoun: she/her
Preferred Name: anahita
Student Number: 20431439
Email: 23pqq1@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BSc
Plan: Biology/Mathematics
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Code: BIOL 307
Term: Summer
Year: 2024
Petition Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor's Name: Christopher Eckert
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Dear Academic Review Committee,
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to respectfully request that my grade for the field course, BIOL 307, be changed to a CR (Credit) on my transcript. The course took place in the deserts of California and Arizona, where we camped and learned outdoors for roughly 2 weeks, before returning to Canada to complete a final project worth 50% of our grade independently. I understand that grades reflect performance, but I would like to explain some personal challenges that significantly impacted my ability to perform during the course.
Before the course began, I was dealing with personal and family difficulties in my life that left me emotionally drained and vulnerable. Unfortunately, the field course only exacerbated these challenges. These challenges followed me into the field course and contributed to the worsening of my mental health. Throughout the course, I was struggling with severe mental health issues, including overwhelming anxiety and panic attacks. I experienced nightly panic attacks that often left me unable to breathe and unable to sleep. The mental fog I experienced made it difficult for me to think clearly, let alone focus on my work. On top of that, certain events and situations that occurred during the course made me feel unwelcome and unwanted, which caused significant emotional distress and worsened my anxiety and depression. While I do not wish to go into the specifics of these events, I just want to mention that they had a profound impact on my mental health.
The course required considerable physical stamina and daily mental sharpness to fully participate in activities and complete numerous graded tasks in the field. However, due to severe anxiety, nightly panic attacks that left me sleep-deprived, and a persistent lack of confidence, I struggled to stay focused and engaged, which significantly affected my ability to meet these demands.
Despite these challenges, I tried my best to stay engaged with the course and found support from some wonderful friends who helped me through the hardest moments, even staying up late to try to calm me down during some major panic attacks. There was also an instance where I had to reach out to the teaching assistants for help during a mental breakdown.
Although I appreciated the learning experience, the emotional and mental strain was overwhelming. After we returned from the field course I decided I needed to seek help from a psychotherapist at Student Services, whom I started seeing weekly, as I felt lost and broken by the experiences I had gone through.
Unfortunately, things became even more difficult after I returned from the field course. I became extremely ill and was in and out of the emergency room. I was very weak, could barely move at times, and found it nearly impossible to focus on anything other than trying to recover. This physical illness, combined with the deteriorating state of my mental health, left me completely incapable of completing the final assignment to the best of my abilities. I was not in the right state to complete my coursework or meet the demands of the final project.
I deeply regret not reaching out for academic consideration at the time, but in those moments, my judgment was completely clouded by everything I was going through. I couldn’t think clearly enough to recognize how much I was struggling or how badly I needed help.
I apologize for not disclosing my medical and emotional challenges earlier; the truth is that I needed a great deal of time to reflect and heal from the situation before I could even find the words to explain what I went through. I hope you can understand that it was a deeply personal and difficult journey for me. I also apologize for not providing more detailed information—certain parts of this journey are extremely personal, and I would sincerely appreciate the opportunity to keep those details private.
I have attached a letter from my therapist at Student Services, along with documentation of my emergency room visits, to support my petition. I truly appreciate your understanding and consideration in possibly allowing me to change my grade to CR, which would help me move forward without the impact of this difficult period affecting my academic record. Please let me know if you require any additional information or documentation.
Thank you for your time and support.
Sincerely,
Anahita Partow
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to respectfully request that my grade for the field course, BIOL 307, be changed to a CR (Credit) on my transcript. The course took place in the deserts of California and Arizona, where we camped and learned outdoors for roughly 2 weeks, before returning to Canada to complete a final project worth 50% of our grade independently. I understand that grades reflect performance, but I would like to explain some personal challenges that significantly impacted my ability to perform during the course.
Before the course began, I was dealing with personal and family difficulties in my life that left me emotionally drained and vulnerable. Unfortunately, the field course only exacerbated these challenges. These challenges followed me into the field course and contributed to the worsening of my mental health. Throughout the course, I was struggling with severe mental health issues, including overwhelming anxiety and panic attacks. I experienced nightly panic attacks that often left me unable to breathe and unable to sleep. The mental fog I experienced made it difficult for me to think clearly, let alone focus on my work. On top of that, certain events and situations that occurred during the course made me feel unwelcome and unwanted, which caused significant emotional distress and worsened my anxiety and depression. While I do not wish to go into the specifics of these events, I just want to mention that they had a profound impact on my mental health.
The course required considerable physical stamina and daily mental sharpness to fully participate in activities and complete numerous graded tasks in the field. However, due to severe anxiety, nightly panic attacks that left me sleep-deprived, and a persistent lack of confidence, I struggled to stay focused and engaged, which significantly affected my ability to meet these demands.
Despite these challenges, I tried my best to stay engaged with the course and found support from some wonderful friends who helped me through the hardest moments, even staying up late to try to calm me down during some major panic attacks. There was also an instance where I had to reach out to the teaching assistants for help during a mental breakdown.
Although I appreciated the learning experience, the emotional and mental strain was overwhelming. After we returned from the field course I decided I needed to seek help from a psychotherapist at Student Services, whom I started seeing weekly, as I felt lost and broken by the experiences I had gone through.
Unfortunately, things became even more difficult after I returned from the field course. I became extremely ill and was in and out of the emergency room. I was very weak, could barely move at times, and found it nearly impossible to focus on anything other than trying to recover. This physical illness, combined with the deteriorating state of my mental health, left me completely incapable of completing the final assignment to the best of my abilities. I was not in the right state to complete my coursework or meet the demands of the final project.
I deeply regret not reaching out for academic consideration at the time, but in those moments, my judgment was completely clouded by everything I was going through. I couldn’t think clearly enough to recognize how much I was struggling or how badly I needed help.
I apologize for not disclosing my medical and emotional challenges earlier; the truth is that I needed a great deal of time to reflect and heal from the situation before I could even find the words to explain what I went through. I hope you can understand that it was a deeply personal and difficult journey for me. I also apologize for not providing more detailed information—certain parts of this journey are extremely personal, and I would sincerely appreciate the opportunity to keep those details private.
I have attached a letter from my therapist at Student Services, along with documentation of my emergency room visits, to support my petition. I truly appreciate your understanding and consideration in possibly allowing me to change my grade to CR, which would help me move forward without the impact of this difficult period affecting my academic record. Please let me know if you require any additional information or documentation.
Thank you for your time and support.
Sincerely,
Anahita Partow
Documentation
Professional Letter: Therapist letter of support.pdf
Document: Kingston ER visit.png
Document: Guelph ER visit.png
