Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

My name is Kevin H. Li and I am requesting an appeal in order to aid in recovering from my first semester gone awry due to an extenuating circumstance: mental illness. As I struggled with an extended period of depression and anxiety, I failed all of my first semester courses and am now applying for the backdated withdrawals of two of those classes: CISC 101 and COGS 100. The other courses from my first semester do not require further attention as they will be addressed in other manners; PSYC 100 I will be retaking over the summer and I will be retaking MATH 110 and 120 next year. These three courses have been/will be dropped within the appropriate deadlines and require no further action.
Since roughly halfway through grade 12, I have suffered from high pressure in academia and extracurricular activities as well as chronic fatigue and bouts of insomnia. As a result, my marks in grade 12 reflected my as-of-yet undiagnosed depression and anxiety. I almost failed my second semester in fact, due to an extended period of absence as I struggled with my mental illness. It was as I was trying to recuperate from this lull in my education that I saw my family doctor and he diagnosed me with depression. Eventually, through discussions with my teachers and hard work to recover missing marks, I graduated and managed to honour my admission to Queen¿¿s. I worked over the summer as a staff cadet at an Air Cadet Summer Training Centre and had a very enjoyable time, excelling at my work there and even earning an award. I took this momentum with me into my first semester at Queen¿¿s but quickly found myself facing my mental illness again. Within a month into my first semester here, my attendance began to suffer again before petering out completely. I would attempt to complete my assignments at first but completely gave up later on. It was around the time that my attendance had completely stopped that I went to see the on-campus counsellor, Mr. Freeman Woolnough. I took counselling from him as well as a referral to Student Wellness for a check with the doctor concerning medication and continued treatment for my mental illness. Unfortunately, as I continued to struggle with a familiar chronic fatigue, lack of motivation and more bouts of insomnia, I did not follow through on any of these until after the winter break, reluctant to seek help and take reparative action at first due to shame. My condition worsened to the point that I did not even attend midterms or final exams, either physically unable to leave my dorm or stopping short of the exam centre due to panic attacks. As such, my marks for all five first semester courses come to a total of zero.
My current situation is much improved from first semester, and as such I am looking to salvage what I can from that period of struggle. I have regular appointments with Mr. Woolnough for counseling and I have a similar arrangement with Student Wellness. There, I see Dr. Katie Webb in order to monitor the severity of my mental illness and my medication, observing side effects and dosages. I reached out almost immediately upon returning to Queen¿¿s for the second semester and have been taking my anti-depression medications since then. I have a strong support system both at Queen¿¿s and at home in my close friends and family and they help greatly in keeping me motivated and in improving my overall outlook. I am involved with clubs and programs at Queen¿¿s such as Queen¿¿s University Chamber Orchestra and Queen¿¿s Bands. My academic situation is far from ideal, having dropped many courses in an effort to focus on my mental health but the current course I am taking, BIOL 111, is going very well and I am receiving quite high marks. As for my dropped courses, we intend to make up for every credit, be it through summer courses or a second attempt at the course in subsequent years at Queen¿¿s. Unfortunately, the mistakes of the past have no way of being addressed on my own and therefore I submit this appeal to backdate withdraw CISC 101 and COGS 100, in search of aid for easing my academic recovery. Attached, please find documents from multiple professionals and involved parties supporting my narrative concerning my struggle with my depression and my appeal.

Thank you in advance for your consideration,
-Kevin H Li