Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean Studies,
I, Nathalie Sint, am appealing to drop BCHM 218 of my winter term 2018.
The extenuating circumstance for appealing the drop of BCHM 218 has to do with my mental illness and the confusion of the mixed learning of BCHM 218. I was diagnosed with an eating disorder in 2014 and more recently generalized anxiety and depression in 2017. In addition to this, I have been going through a lot of grief due to being violated by a man in Kingston earlier this year and coping with such events has made it hard to focus all on school. I was unaware of the help Queen¿¿s has for students with mental health disorders until earlier Winter 2018. Once I saw a counsellor here at Queen¿¿s she directed me to accessibility services where I received several accommodations and suggestions to aid my recovery and university studies. One of which was to consider dropping BCHM. Unfortunately, I had seen her too late and was unable to drop the course before the drop date of March 2nd and that is why I am writing to you today. The reason I wish to drop BCHM and not another course is due to the confusion that it is a blended learning class. From first year, I am use to going to lectures for in-class, classes and write up module notes for online class. However, I was informed four weeks after starting the course that the information needed for this class was all in modules and it was a blended learning sort of course with online and in-class portions. So, I am very far behind and unable to catch up in the class and learn the entirety of BCHM 218. The stress of trying to catch up in that class has made it hard for me to cope with my mental health and has made it in turn hard to focus in my other classes. So, after talking with my accessibilities counsellor, I agreed with her that the idea of dropping the course was indeed a good decision as I can take this course in the summer and learn everything that this course has to offer.
My future plan for this course and all other courses is a follows. I plan to take BCHM 218, as stated earlier, in the summer so that I can start from the beginning noting the modules and understanding the information and keeping up with the course work. In addition, I plan to take in all of the resources Queen¿¿s has for people who struggle with mental health to keep up with my course work during the following school years. As well, I have been working on my anxiety with medication and a counsellor and I plan to visit my professors more frequently and from the get go in order to understand what is asked of me in the courses and with any questions I may have with the course information.
Thank you for your consideration,
Nathalie S.
10194279