Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Associate Dean

I am appealing for Credit Standing for 3 courses I took in the 2016 fall semester Biology 205, Biology 201 and Biology 243. I am a transfer student to queens and was admitted to the biology department. During my first semester, here (the fall 2016 semester) I started experiencing anxiety and panic attacks that were amplified by medication I take for ADHD. Because of these issues I discontinued my ADHD medication and was prescribed an anti-depressant by a doctor at the student health clinic. The issues with my medications negatively affected my studies here at queens because after stopping the ADHD medication it became difficult to concentrate, sit still and remember important information which made it difficult to absorb the information from lectures and focus during exams. I sought out solutions to the issues I was having by going to the doctors, trying a new medication and attending counseling sessions. After being on a steady anti-depressant for about 5 weeks and attending counselling sessions my symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks and dealing with ADHD without medication became more manageable. During this same semester, I fell ill with bronchitis which was diagnosed on October 31st. I visited the doctor again on Nov 18th presenting with symptoms that had worsened from bronchitis to pneumonia. On Nov 21st, I visited the doctor again with an allergic reaction to the pneumonia medication. The pneumonia was completely gone about two weeks after the last doctors visit. Having bronchitis and pneumonia along with the medication complications and doctors visits was physically exhausting and time consuming, I was able to attend most of my lectures and labs but after class I would be to exhausted to get out of bed or do school work, I had to stop attending club meetings and volunteer positions I had taken on at the beginning of the semester as well. I attempted to eradicate my illness by seeing a doctor and taking medications which although they eventually worked took some time to do so. In the future, I plan to deal with my illnesses by taking my prescribed medications and continue attending counseling sessions so that my illnesses do not interfere with my school work and performance. Being healthy this semester has had a positive impact on my academics and thus far by my calculations I currently have grades of 73 BIOL 202, 73 BIOL 206, 87 PHARM 100 and 89 ANAT 100. I am also taking a full year chemistry course that I did not do well in first semester due to illness although I have seen major improvement in the winter semester my accumulative grade for chemistry thus far is 68.

Best, Sarah Colby-Dobell
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