Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),


I am appealing to drop CLST 205 (Fall, 2017), GNDS 125 (Fall, 2017), GNDS 212 (Fall, 2017), GNDS 280 (Fall, 2017), and PHIL 276 (Fall, 2017).


Since my first year here at Queens I have been dealing with depression and anxiety. It started about two months into my first year and seems to have continued to follow


I am in my third year here at Queen¿¿s and over those past three years I have been continually suffering from mental illness which includes depression and anxiety, which have directly affected my academic performance. My mental illness started about two months into school of my first year here, and I continue to be affected by it to this day. My depression, has had a major impact on my life over these past few years, academically, socially, mentally, and emotionally. My depression was an extenuating circumstance that resulted in me feeling constantly tired, as if I had no energy. I became excessively negative, constantly critiquing myself for small faults, and having a lot of feelings of worthlessness. During some times this year it progressed to a point where I was having suicidal thoughts daily, despite my efforts to convince myself that I was crazy to even consider it. It also caused me to drastically change my sleep habits. Every night I had trouble falling asleep, and when I finally did fall asleep in the early hours of the morning, I would oversleep into the afternoon. I also noticed that I began to isolate myself from friends, and I lost all interest in activities I previously enjoyed. Academically, my depression prevented me from being able to concentrate on school work, even the simplest tasks became a struggle. I had a lot of trouble focusing, making easy decisions, and I found it became very hard to remember things. Gradually, I became unable to attend lectures, most tutorials, and I had a very difficult time completing assignments and handing them in. I am also on the synchro team here at Queen¿¿s and early on during the first semester of this year I was concussed one day during practice. I obeyed my doctors instructions and did nothing for a few weeks until I recovered. I was cleared eventually in November but still had lingering symptoms. After I was cleared by my doctor I found that my mental illness worsened. Not only were the suicidal thoughts present, but I began to experience panic attacks which were completely debilitating and prevented me from leaving my house. During the winter semester I started swimming again in January and was hit again which resulted in a second, more serious concussion. My panic attacks continued and worsened until the end of the year (April, 2018). My depression was something that happened to me, and was completely out of control, I was so hopeless that I didn¿¿t even want to seek help. One day in April this past year I found myself doing research on suicide (as hard as it is to admit), and I was crying hysterically the entire time and I thought about my future and my family, and I continually told myself that I was sure I could find a way to turn my life around and survive this. I should mention that I have seen a few different counsellors here at Queens when my depression was really bad, but the help has always been short term. In April of this year, after my worst day I was able to get a cancelled appointment at Lasalle with an amazing counsellor that managed to calm me down and rationalize with me a bit. Since then I have developed a bit of a plan to help get me to where I want to be.

In order to succeed in my future studies here at Queens and graduate, I have developed a future plan to help me overcome my mental illness, and achieve better grades throughout the rest of my undergraduate studies. Since speaking with the counsellor at Queens I have registered with academic accommodations. I was thrilled to hear that I could get some accommodations to help deal with some of my symptoms. I have spoken to my doctor briefly on the phone, and I told him finally about what¿¿s been going on with me over the past three years and we both agree that it¿¿s time to explore long term help (ie. Antidepressants, cognitive therapy). I will have an appointment to see him and get a plan ready within the next two weeks. Following this I will have monthly check ups with my doctor to discuss and monitor my mental illness. I also plan on continuing to see a counsellor at Queens because I think that not having a support system at school and not having someone to talk to about this over the past three years has really exacerbated my mental illness. Academically I believe my instructors have granted me incompletes for the Winter term and are allowing finishing my requirements in each course so that I can at least get some courses completed this year. In terms of this 4/5 of my instructors have allowed me to do this and are working to help me get me the credits. I have come to term with the fact that I will need to take a 5th year or at least an extra semester. If I am able to late drop the courses from the fall I¿¿m hoping to re take them in the fall next year. Before everything that happened this year, I really enjoyed the courses and I would really like to get the chance to take them when I am healthy and happy and able. I also plan on signing up for learning strategies to help me with any problems I might be having in school, whether that be procrastination, managing my time, increasing my motivation, or even just to learn new study skills. I¿¿m hoping that in working with my doctor and counsellors at school I will make sure that I don¿¿t take on too much and that I¿¿m handling and monitoring my illness to the best of my ability next year. I¿¿m also glad that I am starting a proper treatment plan within the next few weeks so that I have time to adjust to it before next year. Overall, by meeting with my doctor and counsellors regularly, and utilizing the many resources available to me on campus next year, I believe that I will be able to succeed overcoming my mental illness, and in my future studies at Queens.