Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Hello Dr. Naaman,

I hope you are well. My name is Gillian Armstrong, and I received a Requirement to Withdraw letter. I’m writing this letter to petition the Faculty’s decision that I must withdraw from Queen’s University for one year. I’ve dealt with mental health struggles for a very long time, but this past year was especially difficult for me. I had extenuating circumstances in my life that led to a severe drop in my academic performance.

January began the breakdown of my long-term relationship when I realized that my now ex-boyfriend had an addiction, and I had been cheated on for three years. In a state of denial, I wanted to try working things out instead of immediately ending the relationship, which then worsened my mental health. From January to March, my ex-boyfriend kept me in a state of intense stress by not telling me whether he had made up his mind to break up or to work on our relationship. He told me he believed my mental health issues, depression and anxiety, as well as my autism, were the cause of all the issues in our relationship. He told me in January that he wanted to end our relationship but was debating whether to try to work things out. In March, he told me he definitely did want to work on things. Then, two weeks later, in early April, he told me he wanted to break up again. At that point, I wanted to end the relationship, but we still had a month left of living together. He would be graduating and moving back home to his parents’ house a few hours away, so I didn’t see the point of breaking up then and living through a month of awkward tension and pettiness together. Throughout the entire four-month period, my days were spent trying to keep a happy façade because I worried my worsening mental health would make him break up with me sooner, and my nights were spent either being kept awake by him not wanting to be alone, him not wanting to cook and clean by himself, or keeping myself awake until I physically couldn’t any longer. When I tried to sleep, all my negative thoughts would come, and I would fall into a heavy spiral. I felt like all I could do was try to distract myself from those thoughts. The last month was the worst part of it because I wanted to end the relationship, but I felt stuck because of our living arrangement. I also knew I had to keep pretending everything was okay, because if I started to act out in anger or pettiness, he would respond the same way, since that’s how it had gone in the past.

My ex-boyfriend was very controlling and needy to the point where it was impossible for me to have a quiet, isolated area to study, do my readings, or complete any assignments, because he would come into the room to distract me and not leave. We were living together in a small one-bedroom apartment owned by Queen’s Community Housing. The apartment consists of a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a hallway. If I went to the bedroom to do my work, he would follow me. But then, if I moved to the kitchen, he would still follow me. I never had an environment conducive to working, causing me to fail two courses and do very poorly in the other three. Now that he’s gone, my apartment is much more distraction-free. I have a dedicated space to work and study, as well as the peace and quiet needed to do so. I have been seeing a registered psychotherapist, Nathalie Mavety, since the end of January, and I have been taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications since April.

Together, Nathalie and I have been working through this relationship ending and the lasting impacts it's had on me, as well as my general mental health. From this point on, she and I will continue to work on my mental health, as well as work through why I felt so focused on fixing this relationship, rather than focusing on my studies. As for my studies, my plan is to remain a full-time student and take the minimum required course load. That way, I’ll stay on my family’s benefits so I can keep receiving treatment from Nathalie, as well as my medications. By taking a reduced course load, I can spend more time and focus on each one, ensuring I give them my best effort. I plan to transition to a Geography major with a Sociology minor, and I will be leaving one of my two part-time jobs to dedicate more time to my studies. I will also make appointments with Student Academic Success Services as needed and with Academic Advisors to help maintain my studies.

Thank you for taking the time to read my petition letter. I sincerely hope I was able to explain my circumstances clearly and why they affected me so much. I hope you will consider my petition, and I look forward to resuming my studies as soon as possible with renewed energy.

Gillian Armstrong
NetID: 22bqms
Student Number: 20387680