Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Jack T. Thompson 10198580
Kinesiology Class of 2019
61 Cherry Blossom Crescent, Courtice, ON, L1E1G6
(905) 447-8940 15jtt@queensu.ca
November 25, 2016

TO:
Dr. Johanne Bénard ¿¿ Associate Dean of Studies
Student Services, First Floor Dunning Hall
Queens University

Dear Associate Dean Bénard,
With permission to be heard after the 21-day appeal deadline, I am appealing for multiple requests in relation to courses from both the winter term of 2016, and the summer term of 2016. My academic performance during both of these terms was seriously disrupted by a severe mental health crisis of which I have only very recently recovered from, and am working towards preventing in the future. For the winter term of 2016, I am requesting Credit standing in the following courses: CHEM 112, CLST 103, and KNPE 125. Although my performance in all of my courses was affected, I¿¿ve been advised that I should only appeal for Credit standing for courses I received lower than a C grade in. For the summer term of 2016, I am requesting to drop PSYC 100 past the academic deadline. This course was most affected by my mental health crisis which peaked in severity during the summer of 2016. The following explanation of my condition over the course of these academic terms accounts for my performance in these courses, which was not to my potential.
Approaching September of 2015, I visited my family doctor in response to developing some anxiety-related symptoms. My doctor expressed that it isn¿¿t uncommon to see some of these symptoms in students approaching university, although some of the more serious symptoms could be cause for alarm if they increased in severity. These symptoms persisted throughout the fall term of 2015 without much change until late December where they began to intensify at an exponential rate. Panic attacks became a daily occurrence, I began to feel depressed, sleep became poor and uncommon, and I could only manage a meal a day as my condition worsened. I began having a hard time getting out of bed in the morning due to my lack of energy and motivation. I started missing lectures more and more frequently throughout the winter term. By mid-February, I had lost an alarming amount of weight, and was too weak and depressed to leave my bed for periods as long as days at a time. I missed countless lectures and submission dates for online assignments in many of my classes causing my grades to slip further and further down. After an incredibly severe episode of anxiety, I was brought to the Kingston General Hospital by a close friend of mine, where I was prescribed anti-anxiety medication for my condition, and was arranged to meet with a mental health specialist to talk through my situation. After returning home after exams, I visited my local clinic where I was confirmed to suffer from anxiety and depression, and I was prescribed more anti-anxiety medication as well as therapy, and a mobile phone app designed to help with depression. During the summer my mental illness reach its peak as I began to experience extremely severe symptoms including hallucinations and a constant feeling of imminent doom. Throughout the summer I worked to fight my mental illness with very little progress until late September.
In late September and early October, my symptoms started to wear off gradually and have not redeveloped since. I intend to work as hard as possible to ensure that my mental illness is cured and will not return again. I¿¿ve decided to take an easier course load this year to allow myself to have less stress throughout the week as I am still recovering. I will be speaking with Queens counselling services, as well as Learning Strategies for advisement in regards to my studies and dealing with my mental illness while at school. I have met with a therapist in my home town since the submission of my previous appeal and will be making visits whenever I am home.
The documentation that I have submitted is the same documentation that I provided for my previous appeal, which documents my visit to the Kingston General Hospital in February of 2016, as well as my visit to the clinic during summer of 2016.

Thank you for your consideration,
Jack Thompson