Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Bénard:
I am appealing to drop PHGY 214 (Fall/Winter, 2015-2016), as well as appealing for credit standing in BIOL 202 (Winter, 2016), BIOL 206 (Winter, 2016), ENGL 160 (Fall/Winter, 2015-2016), and PSYC 100 (Fall/Winter, 2015-2016).
Starting at the end of the Fall 2015 semester, I began to experience increasing fatigue, loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, loss of attention span and motivation, and generalized anxiety which prevented sleep. Prior to this, I had been able to fully participate in my studies earning A¿¿s and B¿¿s in my first year and the Fall term courses of this my second year. These symptoms continued into the Winter 2016 semester, and caused significant difficulties in participating in my studies. I stopped going to class, did not study for tests, I began to drink alcohol at night to allow me to sleep. I was only able to put the bare minimum effort into assignments. This caused me to fall far behind in the coursework for my classes, especially PHGY 214, which further increased my anxiety and low mood. I began to spend long periods, often days, locked in my room withdrawing from contact with even my roommates. I eventually felt that I did not have the energy to keep up in PHGY 214 as well as attempt to complete my other courses, and so I did not write the winter 2016 midterm or final for that course. I did not recognize that I might have a mental health problem until approximately March 2016.

When I began to feel that I possibly had a problem, I scheduled an appointment with the Queen¿¿s Counselling Services. I met them twice, once in late March and the other in early April. During the first visit I spoke to the counsellor about my increasing difficulties completing my schoolwork, as well as my inability to sleep and my excessive alcohol consumption to dull my anxieties. After the second appointment the counsellor recommended that I make arrangements for long-term and ongoing counselling.

Following this meeting I had a discussion with my parents, and together with them made arrangements to see a counsellor who works independently in the Kingston community for ongoing counselling sessions. I have already commenced these sessions, and they will continue going forward. I also booked an appointment with my family physician, who has a local community practice. At this appointment I discussed my anxiety, possible depression, and alcohol consumption. I received counselling from my family doctor, and was prescribed escitalopram, an antidepressant medication to treat my anxiety and depression. I have follow up appointment scheduled with her to assess my response to treatment. I also spoke to an academic counsellor about switching programs from Biology to Biomedical Computing, as I felt I was not enjoying my current courses. I had originally applied to Queen¿¿s with the intent on Biomedical Computing, and had greatly enjoyed my computing courses in first year. I feel that computing courses would engage me more than the biology courses I had been taking. I was fortunate to have my application to switch programs accepted, and will transfer to Biomedical Computing next year.

If my appeal is granted, in order to ensure I do not fall victim to mental health issues again, I have implemented a safety net of support. I will maintain regular meetings with my therapist to discuss how I am feeling and how I am doing in terms of my schoolwork and physical wellbeing. I will also be taking medication to help minimize the effect of depression on my general mood, and seeing my doctor in order to assess the effectiveness of the drug treatment. Additionally, I have switched programs to ensure I feel more engaged and excited about schoolwork, in an attempt to minimize the anxiety and stress I feel when the semester is occurring. With all of these pieces in place, I feel that I will have the support in place to better succeed during my academic terms.
Sincerely,

Tristan Samis