Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),

I am appealing to request a late drop of the courses FREN 320, FREN 323, FREN 325, FREN 342 and SPAN 302, all of which I was registered for in the Winter 2016 term.

During the Winter 2016 term, I was registered for the aforementioned courses, however I was unable to attend and complete the coursework for mental health reasons. I suffer from Social Anxiety Disorder, as well as to a lesser extent, depression. When I am able to successfully manage my mental health, I do not have difficulty with the academic requirements of university level courses. However, at the time, although I was under continuous care from my family doctor, seeing a counsellor, and taking prescription medication for my illness, I was experiencing I severe increase in symptoms which lasted the entire duration of the term and beyond. This made it incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to attend courses and complete the required coursework. Although I knew at the time that I was falling behind in the courses, I was clinging to the irrational hope that I would be able to get better, return and catch up in all of my work. It is for this reason that I did not drop the courses on my own before the last possible date. The nature of Social Anxiety Disorder also makes it inherently difficult for me to initiate contact with other people, especially when needing to disclose personal information about myself. It does not matter if said contact realistically could only result in an improvement of circumstances for me or, at least, would not have a negative effect on my situation. Therefore, I never contacted the professors, or anyone else at Queen¿¿s, to talk about the difficulties I was experiencing at the time and to discover if there were any accommodations that they might have been able to provide for me and that might have allowed me to complete the courses successfully.

Presently, I continue to be under the regular care of my family physician, and I am still taking my prescription for my illness. Currently my symptoms are much better managed since my dosage has been increased to a more appropriate level and has had time to reach full efficacy. I feel that I am much more confident and I have found it significantly easier to talk to people than I ever have before. In the future, I am confident I would be able to seek help from my professors for any issues I am experiencing in a timely manner, although it is my great hope that any issues would not be a result of my mental illness. However, I would have no issue with being forthcoming with my professors about my struggles with mental health, either pre-emptively or if the need arises. My doctor and I are also continuing to pursue counselling options as my previous counsellor is no longer practising.

Graduating from university has been a personal goal of mine for most of my life. While I have found the path to achieving my degree much more circuitous and difficult on a personal level than I had ever anticipated, I remain undeterred in my goal. It is my plan to continue with my studies at Queen¿¿s to complete my Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in French Language and Literature. It is my intention to return in the Fall 2016 semester, possibly with a lightened course load. I plan to retake all required courses for my major, and I also hope to retake any elective courses depending on their scheduling and availability. If any course is not available I would not hesitate find a suitable alternative that would provide me with the credits I require to finish my degree. I also intend to schedule an appointment with Accessibility Services to find out if there are any other services for which I would qualify, and that would benefit me in my pursuit of a degree.

Thank you for your time in consideration of my appeal.

Sincerely,
Hannah Mueller