Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

I am Laurence Moss, a fourth-year Art History student. I am appealing to late drop classes (Arth 242, Arth 308, Arth 472, Rels 354) due to my inability to participate in them at the time, thus leading to a failure to pass. I have bi-polar mood swings, depression, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and anger issues. These may have been hereditary, as my mother's side has a history of schizophrenia and depression. The ADD and mood swings are issues that I deal with on a daily basis. The ADD keeps my mind in a fog and doesn't allow me to focus on anything for any significant amount of time. I have only recently begun to understand the extent to which ADD affects my life. I have been prescribed Vyvanse since January 2018 which greatly aids my ability to do everyday tasks and my studies. I am constantly distracted by my own thoughts that lead off on tangents often keeping me spaced out from my surroundings. My bipolar tendencies make each day unpredictable. Some days, I will be functional and on other days, I would be unable to leave my room. As a result, this year has been extremely emotionally, psychologically and physically straining on me. In the fall of 2017, everything was exacerbated by the end of a two-year committed relationship. To make matters worse, my Uncle (one of two surviving close family members from my father's side) died in surgery. I went into a depressive state, often not wanting to interact with others, leave the house or eat properly for days at a time. I constantly felt like there was no point to anything, I had no passion or want to do anything. I had an aversion to leaving my house or doing anything that remotely related to my daily life. I found myself constantly not wanting to participate in any activity. This deeply affected my self-esteem and I didn't feel like I was worth anything. This mental state led to more isolation, feelings of depersonalization and further deterioration of structure in my life. This depressive state lessened near the end of December 2017 but it still lingers to this day in a lighter form. Coupled with a 2-week lung infection in October and a week-long flu that kept me bedridden in November, I did not have the drive nor the strength to attend classes. Essentially, I experienced the total loss of my executive functioning. Things came to a head when I began experiencing suicidal thoughts and remained in a deep depressive state from September to December.

Currently, I am trying to seek help through Addictions & Mental Health Services-Kingston and Queens Health Services. I previously had sought after help in second year but was met with long wait times and little counseling. It was frustrating since I have been dealing with mood swings, ADD, and depression but hit the bottom of the hole this past semester. The depression coupled with my feeling of self-worth, random illnesses and ADD put a large damper on my ability to do my work. Meanwhile, there has been some tensions at home between my mother and aging father. In most circumstances, I feel powerless and unable to take control. Often, I would find myself sleeping through the day and night. Due to my inability to feel motivated and having experienced severe mood swings, I would rarely attend class or be able to absorb any information. Thus, it was extremely difficult to complete my assignments to the best of my ability which led to why I failed these courses. At this point in my life, I was unable to handle the full course load of 5 courses. With the added weight of family problems, the end of my relationship, my failing mental health, it was overwhelming. My constant bedridden state led to many class absences and definitely played a key factor in failing four of my courses.

In conclusion, I would like to highlight that I am taking active measures to improve my productivity and mental health. I am planning to complete an extra semester in the fall of 2018 to make up the credits needed and am seeking counseling and medical follow-up from Student Wellness Services. Having finally come to terms with the severity to which ADD has affected my life, I am finding my way back to a steady path. This letter I have written is to appeal that these failed courses do not reflect my actual ability and was brought about by the aforementioned extenuating circumstances. Eventually, I would like to attend Graduate School which would require my GPA to meet their requirements. At this time, such an achievement would not be feasible without your consideration. Thank you for taking the time to consider my appeal and I comply with your decision.

Sincerely,
Laurence A. Cézanne Moss