Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),


I am appealing to drop CLST 103 (Winter, 2016), as well as ARTH 120 (Fall and Winter, 2015 - 2016). I am also appealing for credit standing in GPHY 102 (Winter, 2016), HIST 124 (Fall and Winter, 2015 - 2016), PSYCH 100 (Fall and Winter, 2015 - 2016), HLTH 101 (Fall, 2015), and CLST 102 (Fall, 2015).

Throughout my first year of University at Queens, I developed a mental illness called depression, that directly affected my academic performance. My mental illness started about two months into school (October), and I continue to be affected by it. My depression, had a major impact on my life this past year, academically, socially, mentally, and emotionally. My depression was an extenuating circumstance that resulted in me feeling constantly tired, as if I had no energy. I became excessively negative, constantly critiquing myself for small faults, and having a lot of feelings of worthlessness. It also caused me to drastically change my sleep habits. Every night I had trouble falling asleep, and when I finally did fall asleep in the early hours of the morning, I would oversleep into the afternoon. I also noticed than I began to isolate myself from friends, and I lost all interest in activities I previously enjoyed. Academically, my depression prevented me from being able to concentrate on school work, even the simplest tasks became a struggle. I had a lot of trouble focusing, making easy decisions, and I found it became very hard to remember things. Gradually, I became unable to attend lectures, most tutorials, and I had a very difficult time completing assignments and handing them in. Studying for exams, was a nearly impossible task for me to complete. At first I didn't realize my behaviour changing, but over time something like missing one class a week snowballed into me missing every class during the week. My depression was something that happened to me, and was completely out of control. Recently (2-3 weeks ago), I began to realize that my behaviour wasn't normal, and I tried for a while to change it. I tried studying for my exams in a room with other people, in hopes that I would be able to focus if I saw other people working too. However, I had no success. Finally, last week I met with an academic advisor, who then helped me get an appointment with a personal counsellor.

In order to succeed in my future studies here at Queens, I have developed a future plan to help me overcome my mental illness, and achieve better grades throughout the rest of my undergraduate studies. Starting this summer, I plan on seeing my family doctor and maintaining regular meetings to discuss and monitor my metal illness, and hopefully come up with a treatment plan. I also plan on finding a personal counsellor in my hometown while I'm away for the summer. Once I get back to school again in the fall, I will visit the personal counsellors on campus for regular meetings to deal with my depression, or any other problems I might be facing. Academically, I plan on first signing up for learning strategies to help me with any problems I might be having in school, whether that be procrastination, managing my time, increasing my motivation, or even just to learn new study skills. I also plan on joining the peer mentor program, which I believe will help me with things like goal setting, exam preparation skills, managing anxiety and stress, and focus. I would also like to arrange to see my academic advisor, and a career counsellor when I get back to school to figure out what I want to do when I graduate, and what courses will get me there. Finally, this summer I plan on taking two courses that greatly interest me, this will ensure that i'm not taking on more than I can handle next year, and also it will help me to develop good study habits and tips for me to utilize next year when i'm back at school. Overall, by meeting with my doctor and counsellors, and utilizing the many resources available to me on campus next year, I believe that I will be able to succeed overcoming my mental illness, and in my future studies at Queens.